Orderic Vitalis does not present his Historia ecclesiastica, or for that matter his additions to William of Jumièges, as works of theology or of obvious theological interest. Indeed he indicates on occasion that he saw his work in a very different light, though he did so perhaps more as a reflection on his times than by his own inclination. Towards the beginning of Book V, written about 1128, Orderic recounts the appetite of his fellow monks for the history of their own house and their reluctance to set any of it down in writing:

This record Orderic set himself to complete, as far as he was able. A significant disappointment in this process, if not an impediment, was the deterioration he observed in the behaviour of his contemporary society:

In these prefatory remarks Orderic contrasts the abundance of miracles performed through God's will by the Fathers of older times, and the plentiful record of these miracles in books, with the spiritual decadence and poverty of his own time. Miracles have dried up, and been replaced by ‘a growing frenzy of vices in those who give themselves up to fleshly lusts’, which was taken to indicate the proximity of the time of Antichrist. Theological treatises might be better and more useful material for a writer to set down for posterity, but Orderic is confined to what he has at his disposal: history will have to suffice.

The theological revolution of the later eleventh and twelfth centuries was well underway during the course of Orderic's writing career. However, its appearance within Orderic's narrative is patchy.