РЕЛІГІЄЗНАВЧІ НАРИСИ

«Essays on Religious Studies»

Annual journal of NGO Youth Association for the Study of Religions (Kyiv, Ukraine). The journal is officially registered (State Registration Certificate КВ № 15424-3996) and has an international ISSN 2221-1535.

The first issue was published in 2010.

In 2013 the editorial board of the journal Essays on Religious Studies prepared special co-issue of the journal Philosophical Thought (2013, #3), completely devoted to religious studies (see: PROJECTS).

The structure of the Essays on Religious Studies is following:

Religious Studies in Eastern Europe

The section focuses on the history and current state of the academic study of religions in post-socialist countries. The authors are mostly insiders – the representatives of the local academic society. The editorial board recommends the authors to cover such topics as religious studies in the system of education and science, religious studies research centers and professional institutions; religious studies publications, international cooperation between scholars of religion, up-to-date problems in religious studies etc.

Theory and Methodology

The key idea of this section is to turn creatively to the post-Soviet religious studies school heritage and the research models, proposed by the Western tradition. The authors of the section try to apply the new models of religious studies research, which are dictated by the needs of time, and to address the interdisciplinary approach in researching religions.

The methodology of the study of contemporary religious phenomena is presented in theoretical concepts and methodological constructions.

History of Religious Studies

Modern religious studies cannot progress without evaluating the achievements of religious studies in previous periods. The section History of Religious Studies is turned to the retrospective of religious studies research and its analytical analysis, that in turn presupposes the reception of certain limitations, as well as perspective ideas, which might be used in current research. The section considers religious studies work of individual scholars and scientific schools.

Doctrine and Practice

An integral part of any religion and religious movement is its religious beliefs and its practical implementation in the cult. The section encompasses research materials with the general overview of religious beliefs both of traditional and exotic cults, as well as the detailed description of the lasts.

Religion and Society

The section covers number of up-to-date problems of co-existence of religion and society. In particular, it is about the relations between religion and legal system, the specifics of church-state relations, the actuality of politisation and monetarisation of religion and the religion’s place in contemporary worldview systems (including educational system).

Besides that, the readers are presented the analysis of social, political and economic factors of influence on Ukrainian and world religious situation.

Religion and Culture

The analysis of religious events and facts from the point of view of history and theory of culture, applying the cultural studies analytic approaches, is taking place. The section focuses on such topics as mutual influence of cultural and religious phenomena (e.g., “Sunday Christianity”, “religious identity by nationality” or “visualization of the cult”; interaction between religion and modern culture, including globalization, technological and informational processes; cultural specifics of national religions; the impact of religion on the development of the world culture in general.

History of Religion in Ukraine

The section analyzes the religious and church processes, which took place in different historical periods in different religious confessions on the territory of Ukraine, and determined the creation of its current multi-religious image. The authors of the section turn to historical contexts, as well as try to construct the future progress perspectives of religious life in Ukraine by means of making prognoses, studying the dynamics of the changes of religious phenomenas, and including Ukrainian situation in world religious processes.

Translation

The section includes the translations of the articles, previously published in the Western academic journals in late 1990s or 2000s. The preference is given to the papers, which potentially can be used in research or teaching. The texts are not thematically limited and deal with the whole palette of religious studies problems.

Archive

The section presents not republished works of Ukrainian scholars of the late 1800s and early 1900s and aims the familiarization of interested academic milieu with the best religious studies research samples of the past. The published articles and extracts have not only heuristic, but also didactical value (in particular for teaching History of Religious Studies, History of Religions etc.)

New Books

The section embraces bibliographical descriptions of the books on religious studies published in Ukraine during last few years, as well as the reviews of contemporary Ukrainian and foreign publications.  

More about the Journal

Oleg Kyselov New Journal on Religious Studies – Essays on Religious Studies

Olha Mukha Essays on Religious Studies: Tolerance through Knowledge