Modern religious education as the basis for the development of new confessional relations

Modern education is spreading beyond national boundaries and attracting an increasing number of people with various cultural perspectives. Educational institutions operate in a complex internally contradictory polyethnic and polycultural environment. A few aspects of the problem are considered in this paper. The main of them are, first, the government and religious organizations joining efforts in the sphere of education in order to develop spirituality and, second, determination of the acceptable limit of influence exercised by religious education on the general educational process in state educational institutions. The article identifies the role of modern education in the current multiconfessional environment and in the context of imbalance between interests involved. Implementation of religious education in the system of general secondary schools in Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, and France is considered in the paper. The European context of providing religious education within the system of multiconfessional education is characterized. The article shows that foreign experience of developing religious education is varied and instructive. In each country, it is based on national cultural and political traditions. Therefore, it is necessary to develop religious education in Russia relying on national culture and traditions of the Russian society. Key characteristics necessary for the conflict-free implementation of religious education in state schools are identified in the article. © 2019, Ecozone, OAIMDD. All rights reserved.