Legal framework for the educational activities of the Russian Orthodox Church: historical and legal discourse

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Abstract

Topic: The article examines the historical and legal aspects of the legislative framework governing religious education in the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods of Russian state and legal history. It identifies the key features of doctrinal understanding, legislative regulation, and the application of laws on Orthodox education across different historical stages. Goals/objectives: The main goal of the study is to identify the principal features and historical patterns that shaped the evolution of legal policy in the sphere of religious education in Russia. Methodology: The research employs general scientific methods (dialectical, analytical, and synthetic), as well as specific legal methods, including formal-legal, historical-legal, and comparative-legal approaches. Results/conclusions: The study argues that the scholarly examination of the legal regulation of the educational activities of the Russian Orthodox Church within a historical-legal discourse is particularly relevant today, given the substantial transformation of legal consciousness in contemporary Russia, which builds upon national legal traditions supporting balanced, sustainable, and effective legal development. It is further determined that, at various historical stages, state legal policy in the field of religious education was formulated with consideration for the moral and ethical dimensions of the spiritual and educational mission of religious associations and its social effectiveness.

About the authors

Oksana N. Petyukova

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

Author for correspondence.
Email: oksana55@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0127-9747
SPIN-code: 6998-7238

Dr. Sci. (Law), Professor, Department of International and Public Law, Faculty of Law

Russian Federation, Moscow

Yury V. Zudov

Kutafin Moscow State Law University

Email: yury.zudov@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0003-1729-1799
SPIN-code: 8255-8906

Cand. Sci. (Hist.), Associate Professor, Department of State and Law History

Russian Federation, Moscow

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