On the methodology of teaching church history

Abstract

The article is devoted to methodological issues facing contemporary researchers in the field of humanities, in particular the problems of interdisciplinary links in church-historical scholarship and the dangers of reductionism. The process of wide differentiation of scientific disciplines is inseparably connected with education in XIX century. This situation ensured a rapid development of science. The historical disciplines of Moscow University serve as an example. A number of historians advocated a broad interaction of the sciences in the study of history. The task of historical science was to avoid reductionism, to move away from isolated, narrowly understood historical research, to practice its multidirectionality, i.e. integrality. Philology helps history to free itself from one-sidedness. The historian, who comprehends the nature of social information, which he perceives through a historical source (usually a text), and, on the other hand, the literary scholar, who studies the nature of information perceived through the same text, go beyond narrow professional research goals and objectives, and the convergence of their research approaches seems very promising. The theories and methodology borrowed from literary studies have had a significant impact on the current state of historical knowledge. The broader the range of competences a professional possesses, the better research he/she will be able to carry out within a particular scientific field.