TO THE HISTORY OF THE TERM "NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT"
This article is devoted to the analysis of the history of the concept «new religious movement». Since the 1830's up to the present time, three main stages of its development have been identified. For each stage, the specificity of the content and the context of the use of the term in scientific, social and theological discourse are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the positive, neutral and negative meanings with which the term was used in print media. Alternative terms describing sectarian communities are given. The «Japanese» and «African» influences on the development of the term are revealed. The reasons for the isolation of the term from a variety of alternative options and the factors that have influenced the increase in its popularity are identified. The degree of its scientific validity is analyzed.