Alexander Men’s views on doctrinal, moral and ritual content of world religions in light of the teaching of the magisterium of the Church

ENThis article presents the analysis of Alexander Men’s views on the doctrinal, moral and ritual content of world religions. His position is assessed in light of the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church on these issues. Working as a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, Men devoted significant attention to world religions. His most important work in this area is a six-volume history of religions, entitled In Search of the Way, the Truth and the Life. While describing world religions, Men indicates the presence of the semina Verbi, mixed with various religious errors. According to Men, positive religious elements in world religions come from God and serve as a preparation for receiving the Gospel. For him, the semina Verbi in world religions are not complementary to God’s revelation in Christ as the fullness of the revealed truth. Men views the history of religions as humankind’s search for Christ. Therefore, this study demonstrated that Men developed an explicitly Christian approach to the content of world religions, which is in line with the guidelines of the Magisterium of the Church on these issues.