Theology and Religious Studies Editing and Proofreading Services

An article argues that the doctrine develops in a particular direction across three centuries. Whether the author holds that doctrine, works within the tradition that formulated it, or approaches it as an outsider describing what a community believed changes what the argument is doing — and the article never says. Readers from inside and outside the tradition will each assume it was written for them.

We edit what theologians and religious studies scholars write — systematic and constructive theology, biblical studies and exegesis, historical theology and church history, comparative religion and religious studies, ethnographic and sociological work on religious communities, practical and pastoral theology, textual and translation work, and theses, articles and monographs. Our editors work on standpoint: where the author is writing from.

Theological and religious studies writing crosses between confessional and descriptive registers, and the failure is a piece that moves between them without saying so. A normative claim inside a tradition and a descriptive claim about it are different acts and should be legible as such. We work through these so the standpoint is stated early — whether the argument is made within a tradition, about it, or in comparison across traditions — since the same sentence means different things in each mode; so normative and descriptive claims are distinguished where they sit side by side, because "the tradition holds" and "this is right" are separable and readers hold authors to the distinction; so sources are treated according to the status the argument gives them, given that scripture as revelation and scripture as historical text support different moves; so the audience is identified where the writing addresses a community, as a piece written for one and read by another needs its terms explained; so terms carrying weight inside a tradition are defined for readers outside it without being flattened; so translations and original languages are handled consistently with the version named; and so respect is shown to traditions described from outside without the description becoming evasive. Writing like this is read seriously by both audiences.

Everything you send is treated in confidence, including unpublished work, community material and pastoral writing. We are editors rather than theologians or religious studies scholars, and we offer no view on doctrine, truth claims or interpretation. What we can do is make your standpoint clear and your registers consistent.