Theology at St Petersburg University: past and present

It is known that academicians Mikhail Lomonosov; Pavel Kokovtsov; Ignaty Krachkovsky; Izmail Sreznevsky; Boris Turaev; Aleksey Shakhmatov; Alexei Ukhtomsky; professors Erwin Grimm; Ivan Grevs; Pyotr Lebedev; Nikolay Lossky; Nikita Meshcherskii; Yuri P Novitsky; and many others were people of faith. Their belief in God did not prevent them from studying His creations, nature, social processes, languages, cultures, and various other aspects of human life and society. Scientific thinking and religious beliefs coexisted in their minds, going hand in hand.

Science and Theology Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies 

The University Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the Twelve Collegia building was consecrated on the Patronal Festival service held on 29 June (12 July) 1837. Since then, the University Church has been one of the spiritual centres of St Petersburg, uniting many Eastern Orthodox scholars and cultural figures who contributed to the well-being and prosperity of the Motherland. There are many famous scholars among the parishioners of the University Church, including: Andrey Beketov; Dmitri Mendeleev; Izmail Sreznevsky; Sergey Glazenap; Lev Karsavin; Boris Turaev; and others. The poet Alexander Blok was baptised at the University Church, and his formal betrothal to Lyubov Mendeleeva, the daughter of the famous chemist, took place there. 

In February 1990, Metropolitan Alexy of Leningrad and Novgorod (later Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia) visited St Petersburg University. A group of believers approached the Rector of the University with a request to reopen the University church. In 1996, a group of the University students talked to Father Kirill Kopeikin (then a student at St Petersburg Theological Academy) about their concern: there was a congregation, but no priest. The young priest was invited to attend the meeting of the congregation. Thus began his church obedience as rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul at St Petersburg University; and the University Church began to hold regular services. 

In October 2009, St Petersburg University opened the Science and Theology Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies as part of the Academic and Research Music Centre in the vacated University premises at 2/11, 9th Line of Vasilyevsky Island that had previously been leased to a restaurant Aivengo. The atmosphere became turbulent, the guests noticed crooked graffiti lettering on the façade: Priests, get out of the University! Before the opening ceremony of the Centre, the Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev was informed by the Head of Security Department about an anonymous phone call claiming that an explosive device had been planted in the building. However, the provocateurs failed to disrupt the Centre’s opening ceremony. The University community gradually realised that the period of militant atheism was over. 

In fact, the research and educational activities of the Science and Theology Centre began three years earlier, in 2006, after the decision of the Academic Council of the Institute of Philological Studies at St Petersburg University. A graduate of St Petersburg University Archpriest Kirill Kopeikin was appointed Head of the Science and Theology Centre. By that time, he had earned not only a PhD in physics and mathematics, but also a PhD in theology. He regularly organised seminars on various topics devoted to the dialogue between science and religion. 

For example, in May 2006, the Science and Theology Centre held a seminar "Man and the Universe. The Language of Science and the Language of Theology". The large auditorium in the University building at 11 Universitetskaya Embankment was fully packed. Archpriest Kirill Kopeikin delivered a lecture and then talked with students and academics for another three hours until they were asked to vacate the auditorium for the evening lecture classes. For the participants in that and other seminars, such discussions were a fresh experience and an unusual phenomenon. After all, only recently the topics had been virtually taboo, and now they were openly discussed in the University classrooms. In the Soviet era, coming to church would often mean a departure from reality and a desire to find out about the fundamentals of life. 

Father Kirill Kopeikin explained: ‘There used to be a widespread belief that there is a fundamental conflict between science and religion. We forget, however, that modern science arose within the context of the medieval Christian tradition. At that time, science served theology. The primary goal of natural science was to study God’s imprints on creation.’

Medieval theologians in Europe reasoned as follows: since God created the world, which was recognised by all and not debated, He must have left His "fingerprints" on the Universe. Hence, by studying God’s creation, man can learn something about the Creator.

Archpriest Kirill Kopeikin, Candidate of Physics and Mathematics, Candidate of Theology

At the opening of the Centre, Archpriest Kirill Kopeikin presented his book ‘Stairway to Heaven. A Commentary to the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion’. It tells how the rites of the Eastern Orthodox Church were historically formed, and explains their symbolism and significance. Father Kirill continued his research, which is reflected in his publications, including: "What is Reality. Reflections on Erwin Schrödinger’s Works" (St Petersburg University Publishing House, 2014); "In the Footsteps of Jung and Pauli in Search of a Contact between the Physical and Mental Worlds" (St Petersburg University Publishing House, 2016); and numerous research papers. In 2016-2019, according to the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI), Associate Professor Kirill Kopeikin was listed among the top 100 most productive Russian scholars in the section "Religion". 

The objectives of the Science and Theology Centre were defined as follows: first of all, to study the spiritual preconditions for the emergence of modern science and modern natural sciences in particular; and secondly, to support mutual understanding between believers and non-believers, the revival and strengthening of traditional values. University education has the potential to foster a culture of communication and mutual understanding. The Centre held seminars and conferences to discuss topical issues of the relationship between religion and society. The experts of the Centre undertook research and prepared publications exploring the contradictions between science and religion. 

The team of enthusiasts involved in the activities of the Science and Theology Centre wanted to demonstrate that theological literacy should become an element of general culture. Educational courses in theology should be recommended for all students of St Petersburg University. Each person, to be considered educated, must know not only their narrow specialisation in scientific or professional field, but also understand clearly the context in which their profession exists. Better understanding the broad context inevitably implies studying the spiritual traditions of mankind. The core concepts of these traditions are contained in Christian theology. For Russia, these are above all the state forming Eastern Orthodox traditions. 

In 2007, to mark the 170th th anniversary of the University Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, St Petersburg University held the scientific conference "The Temple of the Spirit in the Temple of Science". Scholars and theologians, historians and physicists, philologists and chemists, priests and sociologists made presentations about the complicated history of the Church and about the relationship between science and religion at the University over the course of its almost two-century history (Cooperation of Science and Theology). In the Petrovsky Hall of St Petersburg University, Father Kirill led the roundtable discussion "How did we end up like this?" The guest speakers were 14 graduates of the University — nine physicists; a philologist; a historian; a biologist; a mathematician; and a psychologist — who became priests (The University outside the Church windows). They spoke about their journeys to faith and the place of science and religion in their lives. 

The Science and Theology Centre launched the virtual laboratory "The Tower of Babel and Pentecost" as a pro bono project, aiming to publish and develop the intellectual and scholarly legacies of such outstanding Russian linguists as Archpriest Gerasim Pavskii, Konstantin Aksakov, and Nikolay Nekrasov, who embraced the Humboldt paradigm, developing the comparative study of languages. They explored the idea that all human languages originate from a single language that was divided after the fall of Babel into many dialects; hence, despite external differences, human languages are essentially different realisations of the same original language. 

Another project — the virtual laboratory "Physics and Theology" — aimed to study the Christian roots and eschatological perspectives of modern science. According to the Christian tradition, the possibility of comprehending the created world by the human reason is conditioned by the special place of man in the Universe. Today, we witness how the configuration of a new scientific paradigm is being outlined. In its integrative scope, the new paradigm coheres with the holistic worldview of the third millennium, helping to overcome the gap between humanities, natural science and theology. 

In the 2000s, students in the Physics programmes were taught the course "Philosophy of Science sub specie theologiae". The course outlined the history of scientific method from antiquity to the present day, with the content of philosophy of science being presented in correlation with the history of European theological thought. 

In spring 2010, the Science and Theology Centre held a conference entitled "The Problem of Human Origins in the Context of Modern Science and from the Biblical Viewpoint". This fundamental question is one of the most topical subjects discussed today. Some people believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, while others believe that humans evolved from apes. Can these two radically opposite views be coordinated? And if so, how? Clerical and secular scholars from different research centres were invited to take part in the debate. Both the University academics and students and guest participants witnessed that there was no obscurantism; priests did not fight with evolutionists, nor scholars trashed or belittled churchmen. Thorny issues that concern many researchers are openly discusses at the University. 

In June 2016, Archpriest Kirill Kopeikin made the report "Theological Discourse of Consciousness Research" to the Academic Council of St Petersburg University. He said that the scientifically objective approach to the study of nature eliminates the human personality and consciousness from the scientific picture of the world. The internal psychic reality is fundamentally different from the external reality. Without taking this into account, the picture of the world is incomplete. The questions of what consciousness is and how it is related to brain activity still remain unanswered. The speaker suggested that theology could be of help. According to Archpriest Kirill Kopeikin, studying the process of mathematical creativity (by analogy with the actions of the Creator) may enable obtaining in-depth understanding of the nature of consciousness. 

The participants in the seminars organised by the Science and Theology Centre included: Professor Marianna Shakhnovich, Head of the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies at St Petersburg University; Deacon Sergei Krivovichev, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Department of Crystallography at St Petersburg University; Professor Tatiana Chernigovskaya, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Education, Director of the Institute for Cognitive Studies at St Petersburg University; Sergei Firsov, Professor in the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies at St Petersburg University; Petr Bukharkin, Professor in the Department of History of Russian Literature at St Petersburg University; Igor Dmitriev, Director of the Dmitri Mendeleev Museum and Archives at St Petersburg University; Veronika Afanaseva, Leading Research Associate in the Oriental Department of the State Hermitage Museum; Tatiana Bulgakova, Professor in the Department of Ethnic and Cultural Studies at the Institute of the Peoples of the North at Herzen University; Professor Andrei Grib, Head of the Friedmann Laboratory for Theoretical Physics at Herzen University; Marina Zakharchenko, Professor of St Petersburg Academy of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education; Oksana Lavrova, Associate Professor at the Eastern European Institute of Psychoanalysis; Irina Shalina, Leading Research Associate in the Department of Old Russian Art of the State Russian Museum; Alexei Oskolski, Senior Research Associate at the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Alexander Belyakov, Director of the Russian Centre for the Turin Shroud; and Mikhail Shkarovskii, Leading Research Associate at the Central State Archive of St Petersburg. For over a decade, the Science and Theology Centre spared no efforts to lay the foundations for the dialogue between scholars and theologians at the University, being actively involved in research and education activities of the University community. In November 2023, by Order of the Rector of St Petersburg University, the Centre was reconstituted within the structure of the Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University. 

Department of Jewish Culture 

St Petersburg is a city that holds a unique position in Jewish studies not only nationwide, but also worldwide. By the beginning of the 20th century, about six million Jews lived in the capital of the Russian Empire. This is roughly the same number as the population of the present-day state of Israel. Thus, the earliest Russian Jewish public educational and charitable organisations were established in the 19th century in St Petersburg. It was also in St Petersburg that Russian academic Jewish studies began.

The libraries and archives of St Petersburg hold the largest collections of Jewish manuscripts in the world.

In 1995, on the initiative of the Society for New Testament Studies (SNTS), the Biblical Library was established at the Faculty of Philology of St Petersburg University. The Library holds a unique book collection, containing approximately 20,000 publications. It was the first specialised library for Biblical Philology and Theology in Eastern Europe. These are mainly scholarly editions and dictionaries — all of them related to the Bible. The Library features rare books from the 18th and early 19th century. Most importantly, it has a considerable collection of recent studies. There is no other library in Russia with such a wealth of the recent research literature on the Bible, its interpretations and the history of Biblical interpretation. 

In 2000, the Biblical Library organised courses of ancient languages and held a series of lectures on biblical studies. Two years later, the academic programme "Biblical Philology" was opened at St Petersburg University. Then in 2003, a new Department of Biblical Studies was formed at the Faculty of Philology, with Professor Anatoly Alekseev appointed as its head. At first, it was a unit within the Department of Classical Philology, before becoming at independent department at the Faculty of Philology in 2006. The Department focuses on studying the languages of the Bible and reading of biblical texts. Special attention is given to Ancient Hebrew and Ancient Greek. 

Concurrently, in 2000, within the framework of the agreement between St Petersburg University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the International Research and Education Centre for Biblical and Jewish Studies was established at the Faculty of Philosophy of St Petersburg University. It was then that the academic programme "Cultural Studies of the East" (specialisation "Jewish Studies") was opened at the Faculty of Philosophy. 

In February 2011, members of the Academic Council of St Petersburg University voted for the creation of the Department of Jewish Culture. The Council’s minutes read: ‘The new Department of Jewish culture will contribute to the improvement and coordination of research and education activities, providing qualified training of students’. On 5 March 2011, by order of the Rector of St Petersburg University, the Department of Jewish Culture was established. Professor Igor Tantlevskii was appointed Head of the Department. 

The range of research studies on Jewish civilisation is extensive, covering over three millennia of Jewish history and culture in the most important areas of their residence; religion; philosophy; literature; and languages, in conjunction with the history and culture of other peoples. St Petersburg University publishes the international peer-reviewed journals Judaica Petropolitana and The Jewish Speech. The journals publish research papers in Russian, Hebrew and English.

Since 2017, academics from the Department of Jewish Culture at St Petersburg University have produced 159 joint publications with colleagues from 26 research centres and universities in Israel. Notably, the average citation rate of some papers is significantly higher than the global average.

The Department of Jewish Culture offers specialisations in Jewish history, culture, religion, philosophy and other areas of academic Jewish studies. The academic programmes taught at the Department of Jewish Culture are of international scope. St Petersburg University has partnership agreements with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and other research and educational organisations in Israel. 

In February 2023, the Department of Jewish Culture was integrated into the Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University. 

In May 2023, Professor Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, met with Menachem Mendel Pewzner, Chief Rabbi of St Petersburg, and Mark Grubarg, Chairman of the St Petersburg Jewish Religious Community and Chairman of the Council of Chairpersons of Jewish Communities of Russia. The participants in the meeting shared views on the prospects for cooperation in research, education and culture. The meeting was also attended by Professor Dmitrii Shmonin, Director of the Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University and Professor Igor Tantlevskii, Head of the Department of Jewish Culture at St Petersburg University. 

It was noted that for the prospective students interested in Jewish studies, St Petersburg University offers a wide range of academic programmes in the field. Thus, there is a bachelor’s and a master’s programme in Jewish Culture. The Council of these programmes is chaired by Uri Resnick, Consul General of the State of Israel in St Petersburg. In 2023, the University opened admission to the master’s programme "Jewish Theology". The bachelor’s programme in Jewish Theology has been finalised and will be launched in 2024. 

In addition, doctoral programmes "Theoretical Theology"; "Historical Theology"; and "Practical Theology" include Judaism as one of the four possible research areas. Since 2018, St Petersburg University has been implementing the doctoral programme "Jewish Classical Religious Texts". This is the first doctoral programme of this kind offered by a state institution of higher education in Russia. It was also noted that St Petersburg University offers the non-degree programme "Upgrading the Qualifications of Hebrew Teachers to Work on the Flipped Learning Model". This year, the University plans to launch a programme in Modern Hebrew for students in all fields of study who wish to learn the language. 

Today, university graduates specialised in Theology are in great demand. And not only graduates. The scope and influence of theology is much wider. 

Here is another harbinger of change. In 2019, St Petersburg University organised a student club of Jewish culture. Students of all fields of study are invited to attend the club’s meetings. This project will help to increase the number of students interested in studying Hebrew and learning about Israel — its culture, history, and position in international politics. 

Centre for Islamic Studies 

In January 2020, on the initiative of Professor Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University and Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Centre for Islamic Studies was established at the University. The new unit was headed by Damir Mukhetdinov, First Deputy Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation and Professor in the Department of Arabic Philology at St Petersburg University. 

The primary goal of the new centre is to create a dedicated research space where secular knowledge about Islam would be developed on the basis of Islamic theology. St Petersburg University has been working in this direction for quite a while. In 2015, a bachelor’s programme in Islamic Studies was opened at the University. The University is actively involved in the implementation of a master’s programme with an in-depth study of the history and culture of Islam. Dozens of the University graduates are currently employed both in the central office and regional representative offices of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation (Muslim Petersburg 2.0. How St Petersburg University graduates contribute to opening a new perspective on Islamic thought). St Petersburg University is developing relations with research and academic institutions in Iran and Türkiye. The Centre for the Study of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Centre for Contemporary Turkish Studies and Russia-Türkiye Relations are very active in this respect. 

The Centre for Islamic Studies has two main focus areas: research and education. The primary objective of the Centre is to develop different aspects of secular knowledge about Islam, unified in its specific problematics, communicative and institutional fields, in order to support the formation of a common space for interaction between secular and Islamic institutions — research; religious; cultural and educational; and public organisations; and also media and information companies. The research areas of the Centre for Islamic Studies at St Petersburg University include: the School of Quranic Ethics and Islamic Humanism; the School of Islamic Modernism and Neo-Modernism; the School of Quranic Manuscripts and the School for the Study of the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.

In October 2020, the first doctoral dissertation in Islamic theology was defended at St Petersburg University. The Dissertation Council was chaired by Mikhail Piotrovsky, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the State Hermitage Museum and Dean of the Faculty of Asian and African Studies at St Petersburg University.

Damir Mukhetdinov, Director of the Centre for Islamic Studies at St Petersburg University, successfully defended his dissertation ‘Islamic Renovationist movement from the end of the 20th century to the start of the 21st century: ideas and prospects’. The members of the Dissertation Council voted unanimously to award a doctorate in theology to Damir Mukhetdinov. This was the first doctoral dissertation in Islamic theology defended at a secular university in Russia. Students continue to study Islamic theology, take PhD exams, conduct research and defend their dissertations at St Petersburg University. 

In 2021, the Centre for Islamic Studies at St Petersburg University, with assistance from the Fund for Support of Islamic Culture, Science and Education, organised training for employees of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation and teachers of religious educational institutions. In total, six non-degree programmes were implemented online and on campus — in St Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Yekaterinburg. More than a hundred people benefited from this training. The programmes focused on different topics — from legal support for the activities of religious associations to theological discourse in the context of globalisation. A key feature of the programmes is interdisciplinarity. Today, this is relevant not only for secular education. This also comes to the forefront in religious instruction. 

Scholars of the Centre for Islamic Studies at St Petersburg University are working on publication of the book series "Revival and Renewal". This series is to include translations of works by the greatest Islamic thinkers of the 19th, 20th and the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. Another book series — "Islamic Thought in Russia: Revival and Rethinking" — is designed to collect and systematise the legacy of our predecessors — Khusain Faizkhanov, Rizaeddin bin Fakhreddin, and Musa Bigiev. In 2022, the Centre for Islamic Studies at St Petersburg University took an active part in the all-Russian celebration of the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgaria. The organising committee of the celebrations was headed by Marat Khusnullin, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. The year 2023 marked the 200th birth anniversary of Khusain Faizkhanov (1823-1866), an outstanding Islamic thinker and orientalist scholar. Khusain Faizkhanov taught Tatar, Turkish, Arabic and Arabic calligraphy at the Faculty of Oriental Languages of St Petersburg Imperial University. One of Faizkhanov’s scholarly achievements is a method for deciphering Volga-Kama Bulgarian epitaphs.

The second edition of the world’s first printed Quran, kept in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department of the M. Gorky Scientific Library of St Petersburg University, became the subject of a study by the Centre for Islamic Studies at St Petersburg University. Machumetis Saracenorum principis, eiusque successorum vitae, doctrina, ac ipse Alcoran (‘The life and teachings of Muhammad, ruler of the Saracens, and of his successors, and the Quran itself), compiled by the Zurich theologian Theodore Bibliander, was first published in Latin in 1543. It was based on the earliest translation of the Quran into Medieval Latin — Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete ("Law of Muhammad the false prophet"). This translation was commissioned by Abbot Peter the Venerable and produced by the English scholar and priest Robert of Ketton in the Spanish city of Toledo around 1143. Until the 18th century, European translations of the Quran merely re-translated Robert of Ketton’s Latin version into their own language, rather than translating the Quran directly from Arabic. This, in turn, influenced the translations of the Book of the Muslims into modern European languages, including Russian. That is why the research study of this publication, which became part of the large-scale project "The Quran in Russia"’, is so important.

The University scholars actively participate in events aimed at the development of various research areas. From 30 October to 1 November 2023, the 3rd International Scientific Practical Conference "Islamic Studies and Islamic Theology in the Modern Education System: Problems and Prospects" was held at the Bolgar Islamic Academy (Bolgar, Republic of Tatarstan). The conference was attended by researchers and academics from: Russia; Azerbaijan; Malaysia; Morocco; Qatar; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; and Uzbekistan. Professor Dmitrii Shmonin, Director of the Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University, addressed the plenary meeting via videoconferencing. He made a presentation entitled ‘On theology at a university and confessional institutions of higher education and the specific features of the theologian’s work’. 

During the roundtable session "The demand for theology as a research and academic field in the development of society", lecturers and students of the Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University made presentations. Hieromonk Tikhon (Gleb Vasilev), Assistant Professor of the Institute of Theology, focused on the interaction between Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam in faith and education in the Northwestern Federal District of Russia. Priest Vadim Petrov, a doctoral student of the Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University, talked about the perception of Islamic and Eastern Orthodox religious cultures in the system of education in contemporary Russia. 

Institute of Theology 

The first attempts to establish a faculty of theology at St Petersburg University came soon after its inception in 1724. The draft Regulations on the Establishment of the Academy of Sciences and Arts and a related University read: ‘The University is a gathering of learned persons to teach youth such noble sciences as Theology, Law, Medicine, and Philosophy’. Yet, the idea to have a faculty of theology at the University was not implemented then. In the 18th century, theology — for a number of rather compelling reasons — was not included in the list of academic disciplines taught at universities, although Eastern Orthodox faith and culture permeated the entire life of the structural units of the Academy of Sciences: the Academic University; the Academic Gymnasium; the Teachers’ Seminary; and later the Pedagogical Institute, established at the beginning of the 19th century. 

The course of theology was first introduced at the Main Pedagogical Institute — as the University was called from 1804 until its official reestablishment in 1819. In 1816, among the 21 departments of the Main Pedagogical Institute appeared the Department of Theology. Theology was taught by Archpriest Simeon Platonov, a priest of Our Lady of Vladimir Church. In 1819-1827, Archpriest Gerasim Pavskii was Professor in the Department of Theology at St Petersburg Imperial University. Gerasim Pavskii was a priest of the Kazan Cathedral, the founder of Russian Hebraistics, and a translator of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Russian. He was later awarded the title of Academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. During the rough periods in the development of the university education in St Petersburg, professors of theology played an important role in the spiritual life of the University community. After the First Russian Revolution of 1905, the Department of Theology was to be abolished in accordance with the Statute of Russian Imperial Universities of 1906. Formally, the reason was the Manifesto ‘On the state order perfection’ signed by Emperor Nicholas II on 17 October 1905. The Manifesto granted to the population of the Russian Empire freedom of conscience. Nonetheless, theology was still taught at St Petersburg Imperial University, albeit only as an elective discipline. The Department of Theology was closed in 1918 following the Decree on Separation of Church from State and School from Church adopted by the Council of People’s Commissars of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

By the late 1980s, the period of militant atheism in the Soviet Union gradually came to an end. In 1988, the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus was marked with state-wide celebrations.

In the 1990s, in post-Soviet Russia, you had two options if you wanted to study religious traditions — to choose a course of religious studies and a course of theology. Both were taught as a subject area, which enabled believers to study the legacy of their religion in a secular academic space. The main difference between these two options is that theology is distinctively confessional; hence, the theologian must belong to a particular religious tradition. The first step in the direction of teaching religious studies at St Petersburg University was made when the former Department of Atheism at the Faculty of Philosophy was rearranged into the Department of Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies. 

There were also steps taken towards the second, theological option. In March 2012, Archpriest Kirill Kopeikin, Head of the Science and Theology Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at St Petersburg University, approached Rector Nikolay Kropachev and proposed to consider the possibility of creating an inter-confessional theological faculty at St Petersburg University. According to his idea, in the first years, all theology students would study a range of humanities and theological disciplines. Then, in senior years, they would head down in different educational paths within the confessional theological programmes: Eastern Orthodoxy; Catholicism; Protestantism; Islam; Judaism; and Buddhism (Question 2). If clergy and theologians of different religious traditions studied together in a university environment, they would be developing in an atmosphere of mutual respect and tolerance. Moreover, close interaction — since their student days — in a shared cultural space would improve the quality of communication between clergy of various religions. 

Father Kirill’s proposal was supported by the Academic Council of the Faculty of Arts. At the meeting held on 29 March 2012, it was proposed to consider, in due course, a possibility of opening an academic programme in Theology and establishing a faculty of theology at St Petersburg University, where different religions would be studied in the same cultural space in the atmosphere of mutual respect and tolerance (Minutes of the meeting with public held on 3 March 2012). However, the Committee that was to consider the possibility of opening a faculty of theology at St Petersburg University did not support the proposal of the Academic Council of the Faculty of Arts. 

The matter was revisited in June 2016. Deacon Sergei Krivovichev, Head of the Department of Crystallography at St Petersburg University, addressed Rector Nikolay Kropachev with a proposal to open an academic programme in Theology at the University. To consider the proposal, a committee was set up at St Petersburg University to study the matter thoroughly. The Committee included both experts in close and related field of knowledge and those who expressed their willingness to participate in the discussion. This is the usual way St Petersburg University deals with such matters. The proposal was thoroughly considered by the Committee, taking into account the availability of necessary resources, tactical and strategic advantages, and also risks of the implementation of this project. 

The Committee assessed the whole range of issues related to the development and implementation of academic programmes in theology at a secular university. Among them: historical aspects of the relationship between theological and secular education; connections and contradictions between the state educational standards for "Theology" and "Religious Studies" programmes; and the demand for such academic programmes in contemporary society. With regard to opening an academic programme in Theology at St Petersburg University, the Committee concluded that it would be appropriate to consider integrating theology, traditionally taught at religious educational institutions, into humanities and social science curricula in secular education implemented at St Petersburg University. 

St Petersburg University actively participated in the all-Russian efforts for developing theology and theological education in Russia. This played an important role in changing the situation at the University. In 2018, the voluntary organisation "Scientific and Educational Theological Association" (NOTA) was founded. The main goal of establishing the association was to unite research, methodological and expert activities of Russian institutions of higher education in the field of theology. Among the founders of the Association was the Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev. It should be underlined that but for the active personal position of the Rector of one of Russia’s flagship universities and the help of St Petersburg University’s lawyers, the process of founding the Association would not have gone so smoothly. 

By securing a partnership with Lomonosov Moscow State University to establish NOTA, St Petersburg University was able to ensure the highest level of participation of the leading Russian universities in the Association. The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) also joined the list of the founders. Later, HSE University and other federal and national research universities of the Russian Federation joined the Association. Thus, while nine universities laid the foundations of NOTA in 2018, in 2023, it already had 84 member organisations. 

In 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Rector of the St Cyril and Methodius Church-wide Postgraduate and Doctoral School, was elected President of NOTA. Since 2023, Metropolitan Hilarion has been Honorary President of the Association. In February 2023, Bishop Kirill of Sergiev Posad and Dmitrov was unanimously elected President of NOTA. Professor Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is a permanent member of NOTA’s Council. 

In August 2022, the Institute of Theology was established at St Petersburg University. Professor Dmitrii Shmonin, Doctor of Science (Philosophy), Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal "Issues of Theology" (published since 2019), Chairman of the Expert Council of the Higher Assessment Committee for Theology, was appointed Director of the Institute of Theology. From 2016 to 2022, he worked as Vice-Rector for Research at the Sts Cyril and Methodius Church-wide Postgraduate and Doctoral School. 

The first doctoral programme in theology "Jewish Classical Religious Texts" has been implemented at St Petersburg University since 2018. It was the first doctoral programme of this kind to have been implemented at a state university in Russia. 

On 9 October 2022, Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev and Metropolitan Varsonofii of St Petersburg and Ladoga signed a supplemental agreement to the existing cooperation agreement between St Petersburg University and the St Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church concluded in 2020. Also, an understanding was reached on specific forms of cooperation in the spiritual and moral education and upbringing of the young generation. 

During the meeting, it was stressed that the establishment of the Institute of Theology at one of the flagship universities in Russia begins a qualitatively new stage in the development of theology. The Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University is to become a new platform for interaction between university lecturers in theology of Eastern Orthodoxy and other traditional religions of the Russian Federation regarding research and teaching methods. 

The Supplemental Agreement provides for joint activities, participation of representatives of the Diocese in the work of the Council and the Teaching Methodology Committee of the Academic Programme "Theology". In turn, representatives of St Petersburg University will be engaged in activities of relevant diocesan structures, educational and other organisations of the St Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church as experts and lecturers. 

‘The Institute of Theology is primarily an academic and research unit; hence, our main objective is to create a portfolio of academic programmes. St Petersburg University offers three doctoral programmes in theology: historical, practical, and theoretical. Each of them has four research areas: Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, and Protestantism. We have six doctoral students in these theological specialisations, representing different religions and denominations,’ said Professor Dmitrii Shmonin. ‘We offer a master’s programme in Jewish theology. It is a mono-confessional programme, since the University has accumulated experience and expertise in this area. Currently, we have five master’s students in this programme. Next year, we plan to enrol applicants for the master’s programme "Christian Theology", and for the bachelor’s programme "Christian Theology", if we have admission quotas.’ 

In 2022/2023 academic year, two online courses were developed: ("Traditional Religions of Russia at Pivotal Moments in Russian History" and "Introduction to Theology: History and Methodology"); and two non-degree programmes. In addition, a network programme in Eastern Orthodox theology is being launched together with the Russian State University for the Humanities. Five students have already begun their studies in this programme in Moscow. They will later come to St Petersburg University for one semester. 

In 2019, with encouragement from the Rector of St Petersburg University, the major Russian foundations that support research and development in various fields of science — the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and the Russian Science Foundation — included theology in their lists of supported research areas. In 2021, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research published the results of the grant competition ‘Theology in the context of interdisciplinary scientific research’. A total of 254 applications were submitted to the competition, of which 58 projects were supported by the Foundation. St Petersburg University was the absolute leader in terms of the number of applications submitted and approved: the experts of the Foundation supported seven projects. Among these projects are: the study of the development of religious traditions in Russian culture at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries; the study of the phenomenon of life in natural sciences and theology; and the Eastern Orthodox understanding of socialism. In recent years, St Petersburg University researchers have received ten grants for research in theology. 

Professor Dmitrii Shmonin, Director of the Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University, explained the importance and relevance of theology at the University: ‘Modern science and its methods ensure a rapid increase in knowledge in some areas, while leaving a number of eternal questions unanswered. Science as a social institution is getting more complicated with each passing day, as is the global impact of new technologies. Yet, the issues of a commonly accepted scientific worldview remain unresolved. The need to describe the world in its entirety is as acute as it was centuries ago. Harmonious development of knowledge systems and society requires analysis of the evolution of science and other forms of knowledge and assigning new cultural meanings. 

The current situation involves searching for new foundations for the growing body of scientific research. It is possible to restore the connection between science and religion in such a way that both kinds of truth would complement each other without entering into ideological conflict. One of the key tasks of modern university theology is to foster such a tandem’.

Turning to theological analysis today does not mean abandoning the principles of science. Theology does not pretend to have a direct influence on the specific methods of scientific inquiry, but it remains a powerful tool that enables individual scholars to bridge the gap between the mysteries of the world, the cultural heritage, and his or her own personality.

Professor Dmitrii Shmonin, Director of the Institute of Theology at St Petersburg University

As of December 2023, five dissertations in theology have been defended at St Petersburg University under the University’s own terms: three Dissertations for the Candidate of Theology degree (Aleksandr Andreev; Liudmila Pavlova; and Ilona Golovina) and two doctoral dissertations for the Doctor of Theology degree. The first Dissertation for the Doctor of Theology degree was defended in 2020 (Damir Mukhetdinov). The second doctoral dissertation in theology was defended quite recently (Vsevolod Zolotukhin)). One more dissertation has been submitted for defence and will be presented and discussed by the St Petersburg University Dissertation Council in January 2024.

Recently, at the roundtable discussion "Traditional Religions of Russia Within the Spiritual Paradigm of National Security" held at St Petersburg University, representatives of various confessions shared their time-honoured experience in protecting spiritual and moral values and discussed many relevant issues. The event was attended by the regional leaders and heads of religious organisations. The state and society took a united stand in defence of spiritual and moral ideals, in compliance with the Presidential Executive Order "On Approving the Fundamentals of State Policy for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values". In face of a common threat, the essential unity of traditional religions becomes imperative.

Theology is not just one of the hundreds of academic programmes offered at St Petersburg University. Its meaning is much deeper. A worldview is shaped and influenced by philosophy, sociology, history, political science, and other disciplines, while theology helps to imbue them with traditional values, emphasised Professor Dmitrii Shmonin. Theology is a core element: it articulates the fundamental values of our culture in the clearest and most accessible way.