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In his paper the author examines the place and role of religion-motivated purports and values in Russian thought at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries as a prerequisite to the formation of atheistic ideology of the Soviet Union. It is the author's belief that the formation of atheistic ideology in the USSR has to be looked into in the context of the period that historically preceded the creation of the state in order to better understand the spiritual background of Russia when it entered into the Soviet stage of its history. After all, the people who were engaged in the revolution and started building the Soviet state matured in the second half of the 19th century. The author examines the formation of the USSR, which process, partially artificial and partially natural, resulted in the development of a cultural tradition (the thinking in this case is underpinned by the research conducted by J. Assman, P. Berger, T. Luckmann and M. Eliade), which would meet the needs of different peoples, and understanding of what "the Russian culture and Russian man" should be like. We suggest viewing that cultural tradition, implemented in Soviet practice, as a new articulation of "the Russian idea", which is one of theoretical views substantiated in this paper. A typical instrument for introduction of that cultural tradition was atheistic ideology, which formation prerequisites we discover in religious search of Russian intelligentsia at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. However, it comprised "secularized" ideas of the chosen nation and its special mission, which formed the core of the Soviet ideological narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]