The research focuses on the main features of teaching theology at St. Petersburg/Petrograd University in the prerevolutionary period, when it was a compulsory course for all students. The authors tried to identify the main ideas broadcasted by theology professors, their connection with the socio-political and cultural development of Russian society. The main sources of writing the article were the speeches of teachers of theology and the materials of their lectures. The authors concluded that there were two periods in the history of teaching theology at St. Petersburg/ Petrograd University. If the pre-reform era was characterized by the dominance of propaganda of the principle of the importance of subordination to Imperial power in lectures and speeches, after 1860's was a reorientation to the propaganda of enlightenment. In fact, University theology turned to ideals that served as a guide for the entire liberal professorship, primarily the sacralisation of scientific knowledge as a way to achieve the “common good”. Discourses, broadcasted in sermons and lectures from pulpit turned out to be part of the struggle for culture and popular education, which was led by the university corporation in the pre-revolutionary period. These conclusions can be relevant in the context of modern intensive discussions about the introduction of theology in the system of higher secular education.