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The article is devoted to the autobiographical texts by E.A. Malov, a missionary and a teacher of the Kazan Theological Academy during the second half of the 19th-early 20th centuries. This period of time was characterized by a massive apostasy in the Kazan province of Orthodox newly baptized and old-baptized "foreigners" to Islam or paganism, which largely predetermined the specifics of the academy scientific work and its professors. The texts are written in the form of a diary describing the reflections on the implementation of a missionary campaign among Muslims and Orthodox "foreigners" and the conversations with shakirds and mullahs of the Kazan province during the second half of the 19th-early 20th centuries. E.A. Malov's diaries are directly related to his missionary activity, in which he participated actively throughout his life. Unlike many autobiographical texts that belonged to the clergy of that period, the Kazan missionary's diaries do not reflect the facts from his personal, and family life. The author of the diaries formulated the principles of "missionary science", the methods of refuting paganism and the Islamic religion. The texts of the diaries show that E.A. Malov strove to establish clear disciplinary boundaries of "missionary science," based mainly on historical criticism of sources, requiring specialized training. It is concluded that this source can be considered as one of the valid educational references in the field of propaganda science.