Church-State Relations in the Theory of Religious Economy

This paper is an attempt to consider state and church relations using the theory of religious economy. This paper presents the review of researches using economic approach to the study of religion, which touchs upon the problem of the influence of state on religious sphere. The author uses economic models and comes to the following conclusions. First, economic reasons of intervention of the state into religious market are linked with positive social effect from activity of religious organizations. Second, the state in such a situation seeks to promote religious organizations, however, the issue of loyalty comes to the fore. The state regulates religious market and subsidizes only loyal religious organizations in order to control the expenditure of public funds. Religious organizations of traditional faiths often become loyal because of the wide experience of interaction with the government.