Translated material
Doctor of Orthodox Sciences
Theology may soon become a fundamental discipline in Russia
Already from April of this year, theology in Russia can become the same full-fledged scientific specialty as, for example, mathematical analysis or bioorganic chemistry. Thus, graduates of theological faculties of secular universities and even theological academies can eventually receive candidate and doctoral degrees. Such encouraging news for the church and the believing public was announced yesterday by the director of the department of state scientific, technical and innovation policy of the Ministry of Education and Science, Alexander Naumov.“The working group has already prepared a so-called “scientific passport” for theology - a document that describes the main directions of this specialty, key issues and requirements that apply to the specialty,” said Mr. Naumov. According to him, back in December the “passport” was sent for approval to four authorities at once - the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Union of Rectors, Rosobrnadzor and the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC) of the Ministry of Education and Science. Now the Big Four have almost completed the approval process, after which the document will go to the Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko for signature.
Mr. Naumov is confident that the decision of the head of the Ministry of Education and Science will be positive. “This issue is under the control of the presidential administration, and accordingly a report will be sent to this authority,” the official added. Next, it will be necessary to adjust the regulatory framework of the Ministry of Education: “They will be included in the regulations on the training of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel, as well as in the list of scientific specialties, which is approved by the Ministry of Education and Science and registered by the Ministry of Justice.” This whole process, according to Alexander Naumov, should take about a month. After which, most likely in April, theology will be ranked among the host of “real sciences.”
“Theological schools will also be able to issue state diplomas and award scientific degrees that will be recognized by the state,” said Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov, a member of the working group for the preparation of the scientific passport of theology, the rector of one of the leading educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church - the Orthodox St. Tikhon’s Humanitarian University.
The Orthodox Church has long been proposing to include theology in the list of Higher Attestation Commission scientific disciplines. This idea was officially formulated in the resolution “On the development of the domestic system of religious education and science,” adopted by the XI World Russian National Council, held in March 2007 under the auspices of the Moscow Patriarchate. The response of part of the scientific community to this proposal was the famous “letter of ten academicians”, published in July of the same year in the form of an open letter to then President Vladimir Putin. In the appeal, signed, in particular, by Nobel Prize laureates Zhores Alferov and the late Vitaly Ginzburg, the introduction of theology into the Higher Attestation Commission was called one of the signs of the “clericalization of Russian society.” “On what basis, one might ask, should theology, the body of religious dogma, be considered a scientific discipline? Any scientific discipline operates with facts, logic, evidence, but not with faith,” the authors of the letter argued.
Proponents of the “rehabilitation” of theology, on the contrary, emphasize that theology is not a set of dogmas, but a full-fledged science, without which a serious study of philosophy, the history of religions, and even philology is impossible. At the same time, members of the working group preparing a “scientific passport” of theology admit that convincing the academic community will not be easy. “Of course, negative opinion cannot immediately disappear, since our time was preceded by a long period of state atheism, and it is not yet possible to eradicate its consequences in the minds of people; this will take time,” emphasized the rector of St. Tikhon’s University, Fr. Vladimir Vorobiev. “We understand this very well and are conducting a tolerant, peaceful dialogue with everyone.”