Welcome to On Ecclesiology!
(If you want to know what the title of this website means you can go here.)
We are glad to you have found us. We hope this website can be a useful resource in your study of ecclesiology and church order. If you have any questions feel free to contact us using the form provided.
Introduction
This site has three primary goals.
- Catalog all the resources on ecclesiology we find through our study on the subject of ecclesiology, polity, and the episcopacy.
- Provide one place on the internet where those interested in ecclesiology, polity, and the episcopacy can see an assessment of available resources.
- Offer reflections on the study and trajectory of ecclesiology, polity, and the episcopacy in the 21st century.
An Unintended Pun
As we prepared to launch the site, the search for a domain name began. It was difficult because we wanted to provide a clear picture of what the focus of this site will be.
As a student of the Church’s governance, it was important to not restrict the potential audience of this site.
Anyone who is interested in the study of how the church is ordered should find helpful resources here. It is our goal to include as many different points of view as possible. In order to best understand God’s intended paradigm of order, we ought to consider all possibilities.
In a conversation with a friend, an older pattern of titling theological works was suggested, namely that of using the word “On…” followed by the specific subject under consideration. This idea seemed quite appealing. So, the decision was made to follow this direction of inspiration.
Upon searching for the domain, a subtle pun became apparent. When the two words were placed together it could also read as “One Ecclesiology.”
While not intended, it did seem providential to us.
One Ecclesiology
In the scheme of things, all understandings of ecclesiology and church order cannot be the “right one.” There has to have been some specificity, in germ form even if not fully developed, to what Jesus passed on to the Disciples regarding church order.
However, across the centuries, what that ideal understanding of church order was has been influenced and amended by all that has happened in the lives of the Saints.
We do not take the posture that everyone has to agree with our position. That would be to speak too boldly on a subject for which there should be greater charity.
However, it is not lost on us that in a similar way that there is “One, Holy, Catholic [universal], and Apostolic” Church, as the ancient Creeds of the undivided Church confess, there would most likely be only one ecclesiology conferred to the church as an inheritance.
Our hope is to pursue the truth of this idea, assess the arguments from the various camps of theological tradition, and make a case for what that one ecclesiology would (should?) be.
We hope you will join us on that journey.
Sincerely,
Victor Scott
Founding Editor of On Ecclesiology
episcopi ecclesiarum protestantium 