Frequently asked questions
What this is, who it is for, and how to take part.
What is intra-ecclesial apologetics?
Intra-ecclesial means within the church; apologetics means the making of a reasoned case. Classical apologetics defends the faith to the world. This discipline turns the same tools inward and argues, from Scripture and from what is known about human beings, for the form of church the New Testament describes: what the design is, why it fits the creature God made, where the modern arrangement departs from it, and how it is recovered. It examines church practice through history, psychology, sociology, and the text.
Who can contribute content?
Anyone who cares about the church and is willing to argue for it rather than against it. Submissions are welcome through the contact page. Two standards apply to everything published here: every empirical claim is graded, and every historical stage gets two columns, what it solved and what it cost.
What topics are covered?
The design of the assembly, the household form, the honour economy, church history from Greece to America, leadership and plurality, money, buildings, presence in a place, and the psychology of formation. The articles are sorted into three groups: The Design, The Captivity, and The Recovery.
Is this an attack on the church, or on pastors?
No. The rule of the discipline is that the diagnosis must explain the sincere: any account requiring pastors to be hypocrites and members to be fools has failed as an explanation, because most are neither. What has gone missing is a form, and forms go missing quietly over centuries for reasons that seemed good at every step. Nothing here tells anyone to leave their church.
Is there a fee?
No. Every article on this site is free to read, and there is no charge to engage with the content or to contribute. The three-course programme is taught in cohorts; ask about the next one through the contact page.
How do I start?
Read Start Here, then the first article. Then go through the epistles with a pen and mark every one another, and ask of each: where, in my actual week, could this be obeyed?