In the thesis for the first time in the national philosophy, theology and religious studies a holistic philosophical and religious analysis of the methodology of Orthodox theology in its paradigmatic expressions was carried out. It is proved that the methodology of Orthodox theology serves as a language for theological and religious-philosophical thought necessary for its constitution and concretization in the context of solving urgent ideological problems of religious communities. With the variability of the languages used in the Orthodox thought, the dominant tendency for the methodology was intuitionism, that is, recognition of the possibility for the mind in its true identity of direct knowledge of the presence of God and the ideal foundation of the world. It is established that Orthodox theology arises as a result of the synthesis of biblical personalism ? as an internal meaning and language of the Platonism ? as an external form. This synthesis was productive and heuristic, providing an opportunity for the formation of Orthodox dogma, systematic theology, religious ascetic culture. Orthodox theology of the golden age of patristics is the basic form of identity for the whole of Orthodox theology, and its methodology defines general features for the whole methodology of Orthodox theology. It is revealed that the methodology of Greek patristics of the classical age is characterized by the vision of philosophical culture as "propaedeutics" to theology, when Christianity is perceived as "a new paiede", theology as "true philosophy", whose purpose is the complete perfection of a Christian. Ancient philosophy is evaluated as having a vocation for knowledge of God, but it has largely failed to fulfill this vocation, and therefore must be overcome by a more perfect philosophical culture of Christianity, backed up by a supernatural Revelation. The main feature of the methodology of Greek patristics of the classical age was mystical rationalism. It is believed that the human mind is not capable of knowing God and the ideal foundation of reality, and therefore it is in captivity of sensual phenomenal. At the same time, faith helps to overcome doubts and to begin spiritual life. Thinkers of Greek patristics are convinced that under the influence of grace and ascetic exercises aimed at the transformation of the human person, the mind is able to reveal the innate intuitive ability to mysterious contemplation, through which the unquestionable ecstatic knowledge of God and everything in God is attainable. It has been found that "natural theology" for Byzantine thinkers is a holistic philosophical and theological discourse, which includes "anthropology", "cosmology", "theology" as its main parts, although it contains a set of knowledge and other disciplines that in modernity is a philosophical theology. Theoretical anthropology is a system of theoretical knowledge of the origin, structure of a person, its purpose and purpose of existence. Theoretical cosmology ? describes the world, its origin, structure and future. Theoretical Theology ? is divided into two parts: "theology" in the narrow sense of the word ? the science of the Trinity, and "economics" ? the science of God's activities in relation to the created essence. It has been argued that, in Byzantine thought, "dogmatic theology" is a system of Christian doctrinal teachings, dogmas derived from the Revelation and constituted by faith. Christian fathers did not have the task of building a special Christian mythology, like Prokliv. Its place in the structure of theology is dogmatic discourse, which finds its maximum expression in dogma. Dogmatic theology has its source in Revelation of God in the Bible. It is proved that in Byzantium, "mystical theology" is a form of theological knowledge that directly relies on mystical experience. Along with the Scriptures, the Church had mystics who directly contemplated God as supernatural reality. The methodology of Orthodox theology of modern times is characterized by fluctuations between scholastic and romantic understanding of theology. The reaction to the modernization of Orthodox theology was neopatristics as a non-traditionalist paradigm of thinking. The development of post-mechanistic personalism as a means of ideological overcoming of postmodernism is proposed by the followers of the phenomenological theosophy D. Hart and J. Manoussakis. Personalism created by them is neo-Auguestian by its own methodological settings, and as such has a great ecumenical potential.
