Servicios personalizados
Inglés (pdf)
Articulo en XML
Referencias del artículo
Enviar articulo por email
Citado por SciELO 
Similares en
SciELO 
Permalink
Introduction
In the late XX - early XXI century, a new subject of scientific research requiring purposeful study is being formed in Russia. This is an institute for theological expert review. Its appearance is due to the socio-political changes that took place after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the revival of the role of religion in society.
During this period, new religious movements emerged, most of which were founded in the United States and Western Europe. Their teachings and practices were at odds with the historically established religious tradition. This has led to the complication of situations of a legal, socio-psychological and ideological nature. Their opposition to society caused concern of the public and bodies of state power associated with their possible negative impact on individuals, on society, and on the state.
In this situation, the institution of theological expert review has become necessary. But well-trained personnel specializing in solving newly arisen problems in the religious sphere are needed for its formation. Theological education has regained its value. Only religious scholars have competencies that allow timely performing qualified diagnosis, analysis of changes in the religious situation in society, especially in a poly-confessional one, as well as uncovering illegal actions in a religious space, tracking newly emerging organizations on the religious field and determining their specifics.
However, the very process of the formation of theological expert review was complicated. At the present time, the theological expert review as an institution has not been finally formed. Therefore, the issues related to identifying the reasons that reduce the effectiveness of the theological expert review, determining possible directions in the field of improving the procedure of the expert process retain their relevance and require understanding.
This topic remains poorly studied in theoretical and methodological terms. Theological expert review and the process of its formation and development is not an independent subject of thesis research.
There are separate papers devoted to:
Problematic aspects of conducting a theological expert review and methods of their resolution (Gerasimenko & Vavrukh, 2014).
The problem of the legal status of the judicial theological expert review (Averin, 2016).
Methodological foundations for conducting a theological expert review (Tomaeva, 2001).
The issue of the state theological expert review (Zagrebina, 2010), and others.
The institution of theological expert review is also poorly studied in foreign scientific papers and materials. We can find there only its some research subjects. For example:
Works devoted to the analysis of political cults (O'Toole, 1976; Dorraj, 2006).
Works devoted to the analysis of different types of cults, sects, and new religious movements (Carden, 1998; Iannaccone, 1988; Marty, 1960), etc.
Thus, in spite of the fact that certain aspects of the formation and functioning of the institution of theological expert review were covered in the works of scientists, there are still many questions about the further prospects for the development of this institution. For this purpose, it is necessary to determine what difficulties have arisen in the process of the formation and development of the institution of theological expert review. This is the purpose of this paper.
Methodology
When writing the paper, the neoinstitutional paradigm described by North (1997), was used, which allows us to consider theological expert review as an institution from the point of view of formal norms and informal rules of the game. They ultimately form a continuum of complex organizational relations, and forms of interaction that support the existence of the foundations of a stable socio-political and religious field. Theological expert review is an important integral element of state and confessional relations, which has a complex internal structure and has certain capabilities in solving socially significant problems.
Results and discussion
Among the central and most significant problems in the theological expert reviews, two of them can be distinguished. The first is their theoretical and methodological underdevelopment. The second is the difficulty of selecting experts who can make them. However, at the moment these problems are intractable due to the following reasons.
Firstly, it is the specificity of the methodological tools design, and a different periodization of research of new religious movements. As a result, the experience of domestic researchers and experts in the field of theological expert reviews is radically different from the experience of their foreign colleagues. The first new religious movements appeared in Russia in the early 1980s, and the first attempts to study them were made only in the 1990s. In the United States and Western Europe, new religious movements began to be studied as early as in the 1960s.
The problem of the theological expert reviews methodology could be solved by reflecting of the empirical experience accumulated by domestic researchers and experts over the past twenty years. However, scientists in the field of studying the methodology of modern theological expert review state that this assumption is now near-impossible due to the fact that theology in Russia and the theological community itself are at the stage of rethinking.
The problem of understanding by the present theological community of its role in society is largely complicated by the lack of demand for practical research among theological scholars who concentrate their efforts on bringing the existing discourse to a common understanding. This gives rise to an understanding of religion not as a phenomenon, but as a category of a term, a word. As a result, there is a tendency in modern theology expert reviews not to create a unified methodology aimed at a unified understanding of the categorical theology apparatus, but rather to reflect on this process, and to create requirements for the research methodology.
However, the theoretical interpretation of the fundamental theological terms does not remove the question of the methodological equipment of the procedure for theological expert review. Its complexity is due to the polyparadigmatics of theology as a science. The lack of standardized methodological principles of theological expert review can lead to difficulties, for example, when choosing and justifying the methodological tools of expert research.
For example, one of the reasons for the existing conflict in the domestic expert community of religious scholars is a different understanding of the phenomenon of religion, as a result of which the expert community is split into several groups, each of which criticizes the methodology of conducting expert research. The lack of uniform criteria for evaluating the expert opinions carried out leads to the transformation of a theological expert review into a market for expert services.
Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the development of methodological principles of expert research and ethical and professional requirements for the personality of an expert. The essence of expert activity lies in the direct combination of specialized knowledge and the ability of their practical application to solve specific problems. Attempts are being made in the scientific community to define the expert activity of a religious scholar as a profession that requires special skills, knowledge, and abilities.
The professionalism of an expert characterizes the presence of knowledge regarding the subject of expert activity. Their specificity lies in the fact that they do not appear as purely theoretical. They must be scientifically proven and tested in practice and be an integral part of the professional experience. This imposes an ethical obligation on expert religious scholars for their continuous professional improvement, which involves the use of all available forms of additional professional training, the study of specialized literature on the subject of the examination, as well as the assimilation of the experience of their colleagues in the field on similar and related issues.
There are a lot of directions and research subjects in theological expert review. Therefore, specialists who do not have long-term research experience on the subject matter of theological expert review cannot be recognized as persons who have the necessary knowledge to give an expert opinion. This should become a fundamental criterion when appointing expert reviews, since the current legislation does not indicate which specialist should be considered professionally competent for the making of a religious expert review.
The solution of the existing problems arising in the process of making a theological expert review is currently one of the most pressing issues. To increase the efficiency of the functioning of the theological expert reviews institution in our country, it is also necessary to improve the quality of the procedure for conducting expert research. One of the most important is the question of the possibility of verification, assessment of the expert's opinion, and the development of formal criteria to which they must comply.
This method is called meta-examination (expert review examination) and is intended to determine whether the choice of the expert study methodology is justified, as well as to determine how reasonable the arguments underlying the expert opinion are. Let's consider the main criteria for evaluating expert opinions.
The first criterion for assessing the quality of an expert opinion is the impartiality of the expert's position. An indicator of an expert's objectivity will be the extent to which, in the course of the examination, the expert is able to disengage from his or her own personal position to remain a researcher taking into account only the criteria of truth and reliability, and not the interests of specific persons, particularly the customer of the examination.
The researchers indicate the completeness of the analysis as the second criterion for assessing the quality of the expert opinion. It characterizes the extent to which the expert saw the possible options for reasoning, argumentation, how the problem situation was covered by him/her in details. The violation of this professional requirement will be evidenced by inattention to the facts that are important for answering the questions posed, as well as giving excessive importance to factors that are uninformative in terms of solving expert problems.
The professionalism of the expert research performed is also determined by logically grounded conclusions formulated based on the laws of formal logic, scientific laws, as well as on the facts that are contained in the research materials. The consistency of the logic of the expert's reasoning is characterized by the coherence of his reasoning, by the way in which his conclusions are substantiated and correlated with his research. A sign of violation of this criterion are overly categorical conclusions, the unambiguity of which does not follow from the analysis of their sources presented for research, and the substitution of concepts.
The next parameter that we need to pay attention to when assessing the expert opinion executed is the certainty of the answers, which contain all the necessary information for making a decision. Thus, the subject of meta-examination is the assessment of the course of analysis and reasoning, and the arguments that formed the basis for the conclusions obtained in the course of the expert study.
Carrying out a meta-examination allows us to solve the following list of problems arising when making a theological expert review. Firstly, this procedure allows maintaining the methodological coherence and consistency of research, avoiding disputes not only about the vision of the object of the expert review, but also about the facts that need to be established or refuted during the expert review.
Secondly, this procedure helps to increase the validity, reduce formalism in the commission of a theological expert review. Thirdly, this speeds up the decision-making process, since in this case the need for additional theological expert review is actually eliminated by raising the awareness of the decision making person regarding the quality of the research.
An equally important problem is the training of specialists in the field of theological expert review and advanced training of existing experts. In modern Russia, there are more than a dozen higher educational institutions focused on training specialists in the field of theological expert reviews. However, at present, these profiles are mainly aimed at preparing for academic activities, namely teaching and research work. Therefore, it can be stated that those specialists master the methodology, and, consequently, the terminology necessary for expert reviews already in the process of their own research activities. This is also the reason for the different understanding of the expert process itself, as well as the methodology required to answer the questions posed to the experts.
The danger lies in the fact that in the absence of a unified education and certification of experts, it may turn out, that specialists with poor knowledge of theoretical and scientific research tools may become highly sought experts. Therefore, there is a growing need for mandatory state certification, and also coordination of the activities of experts in the field of making theological expert review.
Considering the fact that the demand for expert opinions of religious scholars will grow inexorably, theological expert reviews as a science needs to respond to this demand presenting highly qualified specialists, who are able to master the complex methodology of theological analysis and its application in practice.
The emergence of the need for specialists having knowledge both in the field of theological sciences and in the field of jurisprudence justifies the need to introduce new educational programs at the intersection of theology and jurisprudence. Such an attempt was made at the Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, where a new specialty "Legal Theology" was introduced on the basis of the Department of Theology, within the framework of which it became possible to train specialists focused on the study of the legal aspect of state-confessional relations, which implies conducting theological expert reviews.
It is also necessary to pay attention to the creation of a single communication space for experts in theological expert review with the aim of group solution of problems in the field of further development of the theory and practice of conducting theological expert reviews.
It is necessary to create a single expert platform on which it would be possible to realize the communication needs of researchers (exchange of experience), generate new ideas in the field of methods and methodology for conducting theological expert reviews. This would be useful for consolidating the expert community, which is fragmented in Russia. This can become an effective tool in solving problems related to the conduct of theological expert reviews and will help to increase the scientific substantiation of the expert opinions.
The final formation of a theological expert review as an institution will become possible only if the expert community of religious scholars would become a single consolidated structural unit of society interested in conducting and receiving an objective expert review. At the present time, there are difficulties (problems) in the formation of this institution, which do not allow them to develop further rapidly.
The first difficulty in the formation of the theological expert review institution is associated with the understanding of this phenomenon. There are two approaches to defining the essence of theological expert review. According to the first approach, a theological expert review is an effective tool of legal science designed to establish or deny the existence of facts to be considered in a specific case related to the protection of the rights to freedom of conscience and religion.
According to the second approach, theological expert review is a type of humanitarian expert review, a form of scientific solution to problems arising in society, a means of protecting the needs and interests of people associated with worldview and value system. Based on this, a theological expert review is a type of scientific and practical activity aimed at studying and analysing problems in the field of freedom of conscience and religion, the purpose of which is to develop recommendations and short-term forecasts that can be used to improve the effectiveness of decisions and to effectively manage religious and political risks.
Separately, we can single out a new type of expert review, which is a public expert review. It is understood as scientific and practical activities, including diagnostics, and registration of qualitative and quantitative changes in a religious situation in order to solve socially important problems. This is the monitoring that is necessary to manage a religious situation.
The second difficulty is associated with the formation of the professional culture of a theology expert. Professionalism is characterized by the availability of specialized knowledge about the subject of research and the availability of expert experience. At the university, we can teach the basics of theological expert review, but having received this knowledge, not all graduates will be able to put it into practice and become good specialists. They will lack experience. Theological expert review requires not just knowledge, but also understanding of methodological aspects, and the ability to apply them in practice. The basics of expert review cannot be learned: they must be understood and recognized. It has no patterns. Patterned thinking only harms the formation of this institution. Therefore, it is necessary to form an expert community capable of generating innovative ideas and forming the expert ethics of a religious scholar.
Conclusions
At the beginning of the 21st century, theological expert review becomes an independent subject of scientific research. The number of scientific works devoted to the study of theoretical and methodological foundations and the possibilities of theological expert reviews is increasing. However, there are still no comprehensive works on this item.
The institution of theological expert review is still at the stage of formation, but has not yet finally formed as a single institution.
The issue of developing a unified approach to understanding the essence and specifics of theological expert review remains relevant. It is also necessary to identify qualitative (meaningful) criteria that characterize the professionalism and competence of an expert, and also parameters that determine the quality of the examinations performed. This will reduce the subjectivity inherent in expert reviews and will contribute to its further development and functioning for the benefit of the state and society.
