Every review begins somewhere before its first issue, in the conviction that a particular kind of writing has gone missing and that its absence is worth remedying. Revue Intl. de Théologie et des Lettres exists because we believe Christian letters deserve a home that treats faith and reason as partners rather than rivals, a place where an essay on grace can sit beside a close reading of Scripture, where an encyclical-style letter can address the anxieties of the present without abandoning the patience of tradition.
We publish essays, encyclicals, books, and shorter articles, gathered under five editorial categories and held to a single standard: that the work be serious, that it be well made, and that it say something true. We are not interested in novelty for its own sake, nor in piety that has stopped thinking. We are interested in writers, established and unpublished alike, who are willing to do both at once.
What follows on this page is a first look at what that means in practice: a featured letter from this issue, a spotlight on a recent book, the current table of contents, and an open invitation to submit your own work. We are glad you are here.
A new encyclical letter from Revue Intl. de Théologie et des Lettres considers why the Church has never mistaken God's silence for His absence, and what that distinction asks of those who wait.
Most of the Christian life is lived neither at Easter nor at Christmas, but in what the liturgical calendar calls Ordinary Time, the long, unmarked interval between one feast and the next. It is here, the letter argues, that faith is most tested and least dramatized.
The letter, written by Jose Manuel R. Empleo and featured as this issue's lead encyclical, traces the difference between silence and absence through Scripture and the tradition of the Church's mystics, arguing that the two are routinely confused to the detriment of ordinary belief.
"The Church has never treated God's silence as His absence, a distinction that changes everything about how we are asked to wait." The Revue Intl. de Théologie et des Lettres Press, summarising the letter's central argument
What is remarkable is not merely the argument, but the register in which it is made. Revue Intl. de Théologie et des Lettres is a Christian journal founded on the premise that faith and serious letters belong together, and this letter unfolds in two movements, from the biblical pattern of divine hiddenness to the practical question of Christian formation.
For readers formed in a culture that prizes visible results, the letter's central claim is countercultural: that waiting without answers is not a failure of faith but frequently its clearest expression, a disciplined patience the Church has practiced and taught for two thousand years.
Essai de théologie spirituelle
A sustained argument in spiritual theology on the discipline of small fidelities, tracing hidden holiness through Scripture, the mystics, and the grammar of an ordinary Christian life.
Read the Opening Chapter →Five editorial categories carrying the Church's intellectual and spiritual tradition into the present
On the discipline of forgiving before the debt is repaid a command addressed to the will rather than the heart.
A short note on reading tradition rigorously in a contested age, and why the Church's memory is a living argument, not a museum piece.
"Sanctity is rarely made of great renunciations. It is made, far more often, of small and repeated fidelities."
The Discipline of Small Fidelities"Forgiveness is often preached as a feeling to be summoned, and rarely explained as a discipline to be practiced."
The Grammar of Forgiveness"The Church's long memory is not a museum piece. It is a living argument, carried forward by people who disagreed with each other as often as they agreed."
What History Owes the PresentEssai de théologie spirituelle
A sustained argument in spiritual theology on the discipline of small fidelities, tracing hidden holiness through Scripture, the mystics, and the grammar of an ordinary Christian life.
Read the Book →An essay on death, judgment, and Christian hope
An opening chapter on memento mori and the Four Last Things, asking why a hope that quietly sets any of them aside is no longer the hope the Church actually proclaims.
Read the Chapter →Browse every category, or bring your own writing into the conversation
Revue Intl. de Théologie et des Lettres Editions · Rolling Submissions Open
Rolling submissions accepted on an ongoing basis. Acknowledgment within 10 business days. Review decisions communicated within 45–60 days of receipt.
Next Editorial Cycle: To Be Announced