Igor Nikolaevich Yablokov is an outstanding Soviet scientist dealing with issues of history, religion and religious studies, who is still alive. He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University and postgraduate studies, he has been working at the faculty since 1961.
His writings cover the history of religion from the most ancient times, where the first cults originated in primitive tribes, to world religions in the modern world.
What is religious studies?
First of all, it is worth understanding what religious studies are. This is an area of scientific research that covers the study of all existing and ever existing religions. It differs from theology, because theology is immersed in a particular denomination. There is no theology in general, but there is, for example, Orthodox theology. It comes from the position of believers, recognizing all religious dogmas.
Religious studies looks at religions from the outside, with an unbiased scientific eye. This scientific area is located at the junction of such sciences and areas as philosophy, psychology, sociology, history. In fact, the section titlesreligious studies remind of this: philosophy of religion, psychology of religion, history of religion.
Religious studies in the Soviet Union were not in favor. The Soviet government tried to put everything that even mentioned religion into the service of propaganda of atheism. Therefore, in universities there were departments of scientific atheism. Only in the 90s they were renamed the departments of religious studies.
Yablokov is the author of the textbook "Fundamentals of Religious Studies". It presents various theories of religion developed in world religious studies.
Theory of Religion
The first section of Yablokov's textbook "Fundamentals of Religious Studies" presents the very foundations of the theory of religion. Definition is important for any subject of study. Therefore, the textbook begins with an attempt to define what religion is and what are its essential characteristics that distinguish it from other phenomena of spiritual and social life. It also raises the question of what caused the emergence of religions. There are sociological, psychological, epistemological factors. It is impossible to ignore the elements that make up religion - religious consciousness and activities, relationships and organizations.
History of Religion
The second section deals with religions separately. All religions existing in the world can be divided into national and world. The former exist within the framework of one, and sometimes several peoples close in culture and origin. It is usually very reluctant to include outsiders in religious communities, and sometimes there is a categorical ban on this.
For example, Judaism strictly divides people into Jews and everyone else, and it is the Jews who are considered God's chosen people. While Christianity considers everyone who has been baptized and become a member of the Church to be chosen. This is one of the differences between world religions and national ones. World religions are known everywhere and often cover not only a large number of different, dissimilar peoples, but also spread across entire continents. These options include Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. They are widespread and known everywhere. The second section of Yablokov's textbook on religious studies raises questions about the history of each of the widely known religions.
Religious philosophy
Religion is not only a way of life, but also a way of thinking and worldview. That is why, speaking of religious studies, Yablokov cannot avoid the topic of philosophy.
Each religion carries its own ideas about the world, about values and morality, causality. The textbook discusses several currents of Buddhist and Christian philosophy, and in Christianity, in turn, they are divided into Catholic and Orthodox. Philosophical currents in religions often contradict each other and do not fit into the framework of orthodox views.
Freethinking
The fourth section of Yablokov's textbook "Fundamentals of Religious Studies" is devoted to a topic important for the modern world: freethinking. Without this phenomenon, the culture in which society lives could not have been formed. It consists in a kind of going beyond the limits of religion. In everythingtimes there were people and entire social movements who sought to look at the world not through the prism of religious dogma.
Religious studies of Yablokov considers these currents that existed in different centuries, for example, in the Renaissance. Freethinking has shaped the secular culture that dominates the modern world.
Dialogue of worldviews
The fifth section raises an important issue of dialogue between religious and non-religious worldviews. Despite such different views on the world and man, representatives of these approaches have to find a common language.
Freedom of conscience
And finally, the sixth section talks about freedom of conscience - one of the modern humanistic values. The name "freedom of conscience" is rather fixed historically and does not quite reflect the essence of the phenomenon. It could be called freedom of religion. How the world gradually moved towards such a position is revealed in Yablokov's Religious Studies.
