Images of secularization in Russian religious philosophy at the second half of the 19th century

The question of the connection between secularization and the history of Russian religious philosophy is attracting more and more close attention of modern researchers. The article aims to reveal the peculiarities of the understanding of secularization and its images in the works of key Russian religious philosophers at the second half of the 19th century. The methodological basis is the distinction between two subcultures in Russian religious philosophy: theological-academic philosophy and “laical” religious philosophy, which is being developed by thinkers who find themselves in a situation of religious conversion. Also, a methodological guideline is the distinction between two understandings of secularization: as a process of ousting religion from the social life and as a sacralization of secular values in “political theologies”. The article concludes that the understanding of secularization as the formation of political theology is found only in K. N. Leontiev’s works in his understanding of socialism. For all other thinkers, secularization turns out to be a process of breaking the connection between religion and social life, science, politics, art. It is determined that both among church thinkers and among the “laics” there are supporters of denouncing secular phenomena and their denial, and supporters of the “transformation” of secular phenomena in order to further their churching. A. M. Bukharev and V. S. Soloviev turn out to be those religious philosophers who discover secularization within the church life as a rupture of church life with Christianity itself.