On the basis of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy and the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), the forum "State and Religion: Ways of Dialogue" was held on December 5 and 6, 2023.
The plenary session of the forum opened on December 5 at the RANEPA Scientific Library, it was headed by V.A. Shamakhov, Scientific director of the Northwestern Institute of Management of the RANEPA, and Bishop Siluan, Rector of St. Petersburg State University of Economics.
The director of the NWIU RANHiGS, A.D. Khlutkov, addressed the audience with a welcoming speech. In the plenary part of the conference, three reports were made directly related to the work of the three sections of the conference.
V.Y. Kondurov, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional Law of St. Petersburg State University, made a report "Political Theology and Legal Dogmatics". His focus is on the development of ideas about political theology and the foundations of legal science, combined in a political and legal perspective and philosophy of law.
D.V. Shmonin, Doctor of Philosophy, Director of the Institute of Theology of St. Petersburg State University, Professor of the Department of Theology of St. Petersburg State University, raised the question of theology as a general educational paradigm. He comprehensively substantiated the goals, objectives, essence and practical aspects of the theology of education.
The report of P.B. Mikhailov, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Professor of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's University for the Humanities, was devoted to the problem of theological resources in understanding history. It was about the theology of history as a tool for understanding the historical process in a general cultural context.
On the same day, three sections were open: "Traditional values and non-traditional religiosities", "Theology of Education" and a youth section.
At the section "Traditional values and non-traditional religiosities", participants presented reports in which they examined the interaction of the Russian Orthodox Church and the state in the context of the formation of value priorities of Russian society and their perception by people.
The Theology of Education section devoted its work to the consideration of the problems of perception of theological knowledge in modern education. In particular, the researchers talked about historical theology as a scientific discipline
RANEPA student D.G. Huseynova headed the work of the youth section. The main topics of discussion were the possibility of creating an ideal society on earth, the differences in political theology in authoritarian and liberal democratic states.
On December 6, the conference was also continued by three sections: "Theology of History", "Political Theology" and "State-confessional Relations: History and modernity".
The moderator of the first section was the Candidate of Theology, Associate Professor of the Department of Theology of St. Petersburg State University, Priest Mikhail Legeev. During the discussion, the scientists discussed Henri de Lubac's understanding of time and eternity, the discussion between E. Gibbon and J. G. Newman, as well as the understanding of the theology of history by Russian scientists in the XIX and XX centuries.
The work of the second section was headed by N.K. Syundyukov, senior lecturer at the RANEPA of St. Petersburg. Here, the conference participants examined various political systems and their theological foundations.
At the section "State-confessional relations: history and modernity", scientists compared models of relations between the state and the Church in different countries, in particular, Russia and Greece, in different historical periods.