This is the text of a discussion organized by the Editorial Board of this journal on December 9th, 2015. The debate was devoted to the issue of scientific status of theology and the place of theology among other academic disciplines. Participants of this discussion: historian Olga Vasil’eva (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, since 2016 — Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation), philologist Nikolay Grintser (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration), historian Askold Ivanchik (corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences); sociologist Boris Knorre (Higher School of Economics), philosopher Svetlana Konacheva (Russian State University of the Humanities); Alexander Kyrlezhev (scientific editor of this journal); theologian Konstantin Polskov (St.-Tikhon’s Orthodox University), scholar of religion Vladislav Razdiakonov (Russian State University of the Humanities); theologian Andrey Shishkov (SS Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Post-Graduate Studies).