The Religious Studies on the Eve of Totalitarianism. The Issue of Reformation
The Religious Studies on the Eve of Totalitarianism. The Issue of Reformation

Summary/Abstract: Religious studies are often influenced by religious, political, or both sets of beliefs. The birth of scientific ideas is also largely determined by political and social transformations, which is a tendency to which the XX century provides an excellent example. The events of the Russian revolution had not only led to socio-political transformations but had also modified the scientific paradigm on the territory of the former Russian Empire and the newly created Soviet Union. One of the indicators had to do with the emergence of new approaches to religious studies, which was associated with the growing popularity of atheistic and anti- clerical views. Other kinds of research ideas, if not forgotten entirely, had at least, played a much smaller role in the formation of scientific knowledge.In this article, I would like to focus on the studies of Reformation processes since they were also associated with social change. The Reformation was the event of crucial importance to the world history, which was marked by its exceptional influence on the religious situation in Europe, the balance of political forces, social processes and culture. As a broad and complex socio-political and ideological movement with diverse social and ethnic composition, it took the form of struggle against the Catholic Church and the foundations of medieval society and had spread over the 16th and 17th centuries over most of the countries of Western and Central Europe. Attempts to understand Reformation, its causes, place and role in European history have been made almost since its beginning.

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