List of issues > Series «Political Science and Religion Studies». 2025. Vol 54
The Development of the Concept of the State-Civilization:
Religious and Theological Approaches
Author(s)
O. D. Agapov
Kazan Innovative University named after V.G. Timiryasov, Kazan, Russian Federation
Abstract
The theoretical and methodological development of the concept of state-civilizations at the
beginning of the 21st century presupposes the activation of strategies of trans– and interdisciplinarity, interaction of social sciences and humanities. Religious studies and theological knowledge should
occupy a special place in this process, since in the civilizational approach of the XIX-XXI centuries,
the most important role in the formation of civilizations is assigned to the religious and/or theological
factor. The importance of the participation of religious scholars and theologians is to become, based
on their extensive theoretical background and empirical research, an intellectual force with its own
research program capable of deconstructing the most radical interpretations of the philosophy of
history, excluding the place and role of religious institutions and practices in the dynamics of the
human race. In general, both theological and religious studies can occupy a unique niche in the constitution of civilizational theory in the 21st century. It allows us to comprehend the existence of the
subjects of civilization in their historical specifics, a variety of practices and meanings. Theological
knowledge gives an idea of the transcendental character of the divine, its non-reducibility to immanent representations, and religious studies knowledge allows to get away from the reduced formulas
of understanding the place and role of religious institutions in the structures of Modernity (early XXI
century).
About the Authors
Agapov Oleg Dmitrievich,
Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Professor,
Director of the Research Institute of Social
Philosophy
Kazan Innovation University named after
V. G. Timiryasova
42, Moskovskaya st., Kazan, 420111,
Russian Federation
For citation
Agapov O.D. The Development of the Concept of the State-Civilization: Religious and Theological Approaches.
The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies, 2025, vol. 54, pp. 164-171.
https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2025.54.164 (in Russian)
Keywords
state-civilization, state-empire, theology, religious studies.
UDC
993
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2025.54.164
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