author: Anatolii Kyslyi
Relevance of the research. Today, the scientific community is actively involved in addressing the issues of religious studies as a science and education in Ukraine. This topic has become a subject of scientific debate among educators, philosophers, theologians, public figures, and religious scholars themselves at numerous conferences; it is also highlighted in publications in reputable journals, defended dissertations, etc. The relevance of the problem under study is by no means new, and the main options for its solution are based on modern theoretical reflections that have lost neither their significance nor their urgency.
Problem statement. Possessing substantial theoretical and practical achievements in the field of religious studies, the scientific community is searching for ways to resolve the task of its own self-identification. Today, the fact of the existence of religious studies within the national scientific and educational space proves to be more important than constant disputes over the boundaries of the problem field of the science of religion or the development of a unified system of methodological tools.
Analysis of recent research and publications. The achievements and problems of religious studies as a science and education in Ukraine are highlighted in several monographs and individual publications prepared by the staff of the Department of Religious Studies of the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Significant attention to the analysis of the peculiarities of the formation of religious studies in Ukraine in all its manifestations was paid by A. Kolodny and L. Fylypovych. Domestic scientistsV. Bondarenko, V. Yelenskyi, M. Zakovich, O. Kyselov, A. Kyslyi, A. Kolodny, L. Fylypovych, Y. Chornomorets, P. Yarotsky and others. outlined a range of problems that religious studies faced at the initial stages of its formation in independent Ukraine and identified the main trends in its development.
Research task. The purpose of the article is to study the urgent problem of the formation, current state, and development trends of religious studies as a science and education in Ukraine in modern conditions.
Main material presentation. The peculiarities of the emergence and formation of religious studies in modern Ukraine are considered. Religious studies as a science and education in independent Ukraine emerged as a natural phenomenon based on the analysis of religious phenomena, inheriting organizational and scientific-methodological approaches formed in its historical past. In the field of religious studies science and education in Ukraine, there was a period of stable growth for some time, both in the institutional sense and in terms of quality control of education and the enrichment of its content. Transformational processes in the sphere of science and education in Ukraine, which are of a national nature and driven by its external and internal political vectors of development, have slowed down the development of religious studies in all its manifestations.
Conclusions. Thus, the development of religious studies as a science and education in Ukraine largely depends on the general organization of this sphere, its funding, and social prestige. The academic research and study of religion represent a large-scale social and value-based need for the accumulation and transfer of reliable knowledge about religion, which is achieved through religious studies as a science and education.
Keywords: religious studies, religious education, scientific atheism, theology, religious education.
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