Scientific theological attestation models in traditional religions and confessions of Russia

The paper is devoted to the issue of models of theological scientific attestation applied in traditional religions and confessions of Russia. The analysed source base comprises regulatory and legal acts in the sphere of education, science and religious activities, internal regulations of religious organisations, documents, and materials of dissertation defences in Orthodox, Islamic and Protestant confessional dissertation councils. The study showed that the models applied by different religious organisations differ in terms of the places where dissertations are prepared, its types and methods of submission, and the forms of evaluation of the work of theological degree candidates. At the same time, all of it has analogues within the framework of state scientific attestation, conducted by leading organisations, which have received the right to independently award academic degrees. The similarity of state and confessional scientific attestation can be observed not only at the level of official declarations, but also in the practice of the related organisations and structures. The main difference is the greater control by religious organisations in denominational dissertation councils, although such control may also be present in state councils.

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