Quō vādis?
“Where are you marching?”
“Where are you going?”
“Whither goest thou?”
Whether you are seeking a formal degree in preparation to enter seminary, or simply desire theological training to better lead your household and church, Corbenic is ready to prepare you for the adventure to which you have been called through a variety of courses rooted in classic culture.
Rediscover Old School
An Alternate Way
of Learning
Our teacher-apprentice mode of instruction allows for a focused teaching environment tailored to the student’s interests and skills. Students choose the available course(s) they want from each level, thereby building their own courseline within the program’s requirements. Spots are limited.
One course takes about two seasons to complete, comprised of a 60-min/in-person session, once a week, with the opportunity for additional (voluntary) lectures for students that are interested. This is the ‘Oxford-Cambridge’ research degree model, which is the same system that CS Lewis and many colleagues were professor-tutors within. To measure a student’s competency, the student will participate in dialogue concerning the content through selected live readings. They then choose either an oral presentation OR a written paper. These two factors are assessed to pass the course.
To coincide with home schooling, employment, and the general pace of the formation, applicants are considered from age 16 and up.
‘Tuition that low?’
This depends on one’s understanding of ‘low cost’ when it comes to wisdom formation. At Corbenic, money will not be made an obstacle to one who desires formation in Christian orthodoxy. We are not interested in being part of adding financial debt to a person. There is a cost; the cost of ‘time’. This is a far more precious commodity than coinage. Are you able to invest ‘time’, to commit to spend this valuable currency, with us? Corbenic is prepared to invest our time in each student.
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—”
Luke 14:28ff
A Blend of Guidance & Independence
The ‘Ox-bridge’ system essentially relies on the student’s ability to independently engage the required learning content in a manner that best suits them,
while also receiving instruction from the teacher.
“I believe that many who find that ‘nothing happens’
C.S. Lewis, “Introduction to Athanasius’s On the Incarnation“
when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion,
would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are
working their way through a tough bit of theology
with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand.”
Corbenic’s Formation Paths
Bachelor of Theological Arts
This is Corbenic’s only Baccalaureate program, upon which our other programs are built. It is a taught, multi-discipline of Bible reading. Included as well is the study of the fundamental articles of Christian Doctrine, and core aspects of Ecclesiology, within the framework of Saxon-Anglican tradition. This degree also establishes the essential principles of Storycraft as a significant concurrent discipline towards developing the Christian’s Imagination to meditate on the Bible’s images and meta-themes, while engaging with the tenets of faithful Theology, often through the lens of the Arts. A BThA is achieved when four courses are completed in Levels I-VI.
Master of Imaginative Christian Arts
When a student has a solid Biblical foundation, and its Cosmic War posture, they are ready to take on a deeper study of Scripture using the principles learned in the BThA. They are also ready to engage properly with History from the perspective of Heaven through the Church, wrestle with multiple disciplines of Christian Theology, and take on a wider breadth of Myth & Stories. Students in this program may also choose to focus on a particular ‘Art’, e.g. ‘Literature’, ‘Theatre/Film’, ‘Painting/Drawing’, ‘Culinary’. Those without a BThA (or equivalent) will be required to take the ‘Holy Writ’ courses from that program first.
Master of Chivalric Arts
Rooted in the heritage of traditional Christianity and medieval chivalry, the research MChA focuses the man on magnanimous virtue-formation for leadership in the home and Church; it explores the tension of the Perilous Adventure as a meek disciple of King JESUS, and GOD’s expectation of right-action in the face of our Cosmic War foes as befits priestly-princes of the Eternal ‘Already-Here / Not-yet’ Kingdom. Commitment to an approved formal prayer-meditation discipline for the duration of the program is required. Avid readers of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien—and the people and works usually associated with them, in particular the Arthuriad and Grail lore—will find much in this degree suited to their interests. Those without a BThA (or equivalent) will be required to take the ‘Holy Writ’ courses from that program first.
For all degree programs:
Bible-reading will include the original Hebrew/Greek; proficiency in these will not be necessary, yet the student will quickly appreciate how even a basic understanding of the original languages can deeply enrich meditation on Scripture for a lifetime. Moreover, most subjects will primarily be engaged through ‘Story’ when possible, using the same premise as how the writer of the Books of the Chronicles presented a ‘meta-history’ of the Old Testament Church. For example-
- instead of reading straight history texts about Western Christianity in (and following) the Roman Empire, we will read significant portions of the ‘Pre-Vulgate Arthurian Saga’, as well as epics like Quo Vadis?, Beowulf and The Song of Roland; OR instead of a text on the Norman Invasion of England, we will explore the related development of sacred iconography (e.g. ‘the Cross’) and church architecture before and after the conquest;
- instead of reading volumes on dogmatics, we will work through a literary-theologian like Austin Farrer or Bo Giertz, or read a work of High-fiction like Paradise Lost/Regained or Dracula that engage the same doctrine;
- instead of reading a standard Bible commentary, we will add poetry from Donne or Herbert, or from contemporary poets like Charles Williams or Malcolm Guite, take up a classic work like A Tale of Two Cities, engage a Biblical novel/film like Ben-Hur or The Silver Chalice, or meditate on selections from homilies of the Patristic Era.
Corbenic Bible College as an academic institution is a significant extended ministry founded and operated by Christ the King Church, whose primary parish is located in Easton ME. Corbenic-BC is focused on preparing Christian men and women for serving their family and fellow Christians, to their fullest leadership and vocational capacity, within their home & church community, by way of our deeply-rooted confessing ‘orthodox Saxon’ & ‘continuing Anglican’ degree programs, as we seek to apply the ‘Great Commission’ of Christ {Matthew 28}. Within this specific context, Corbenic-BC is approved by the State of Maine legislature to confer degrees. “Pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 10708, subsection 4, this institution is not required to obtain authorization from either the State Board of Education or the Maine State Legislature in order to: (1) use the name ‘junior college,’ ‘college,’ or ‘university,’ (2) offer courses or programs for academic credit, or (3) confer degrees.”
Which Path is Calling…?
To receive more specific information on one of our programs,
or to request an application, please use the form below.
Please note that, although Corbenic is not (presently) formally affiliated with any Saxon (i.e. Lutheran) or Anglican branch, an applicant normally would be a member in good standing (or on the path to becoming a member) of:
- our UECNA Saxon-Anglican Mission-parish, Christ the King Church OR a congregation in an alliance (or other formal arrangement for education) with our parish; or
- a congregation affiliated with a Confessing Saxon or Anglican church branch or organization (national and/or international)- e.g. North American Lutheran Church (NALC), United Episcopal Church (UECNA); the Global Confessional & Missional Lutheran Forum (GCMF), the Global Anglican Communion (GAC), the International Lutheran Council (ILC); or
- a Biblically-sound, doctrinally orthodox congregation with a traditional liturgy form and a public statement of faith (if not subscribed to a formal Confession of the Reformation), that fully agrees with the three historic Creeds and the (first) Four Ecumenical Councils of the Ancient Church.
NOTE: In (2) and (3), please provide details with the ‘additional notes’ below; if you are not sure please provide what information you can and we will discuss further with the applicant. Also, the pastor/priest/minister of the applicant must submit a personal ‘letter of recommendation’ on behalf of the applicant (if requested).
Applicants who are not members of any of the above, but who are willing, in good faith, to receive instruction at Corbenic-BC, a Protestant-Catholic setting rooted in Saxon-Anglican Reformation heritage, are welcome to apply. Please further note that, as part of our commitment to and desire to support striving-to-be-faithful Christians and their congregations in the regions of the Crown & Highlands of Maine as well as the central St. John River Valley, Corbenic-BC gives significant discounts as low as ‘no cost’ to residents of these regions of Maine and New Brunswick.
Corbenic Bible College 