Welcome to the
Faith of Our Fathers
Orientation
Do you have all of your materials?
1. Handbook
2. Sample Presentation Outline
3. Class Materials
1. Reading Schedule
2. Brief Syllabus
3. Extended Syllabus
4. Student Score Sheet
5. Reading slip
6. Biola Library Application
Faith of Our Fathers
~ There and Back Again ~
From Luke to Spenser
Faith Tutors
 Mrs. Barber – Temecula
 Mr. Buhler – La Mirada, Yorba Linda
 Mr. Garten – South Bay
Faith Objectives
TA Handbook pp 10-11
Many of the specific objectives listed in the handbook
are continuations of objectives of your previous Torrey
Academy classes. However, there are a few objectives
that are new. Please make sure you read this page
carefully to understand the major goals of the Faith of
Our Fathers class.
TA Handbook pp 10-11
1. Characterize the different genres of allegory, epic poem,
essay, and homily.

Faith reads allegory and epic poetry, which you have not been introduced
to thus far in Torrey Academy. The poetic/literary books that we read are:
Consolation of Philosophy, Poem of the Cid, Song of Roland, The Canterbury
Tales, Pearl, the poetry of Petrarch, The Divine Comedy, and The Faerie
Queene.

A good exercise to understand some of the unique aspects of this new kind
of poetry is to make notes either mentally or on paper of the differences
and similarities between the poetry in Faith and the poetry you’ve
previously read in Foundations and Inklings.
TA Handbook pp 10-11
2. Trace the literary development of early Medieval and
Renaissance culture and identify key movements.

After taking note of the differences and similarities in Faith poetry, tracing
these differences/similarities chronologically, and after discussing the
ideas related to these poems in class, you will start to see how and why
these distinct kinds of poetry emerged in the West and how they relate to
the Christian faith.
TA Handbook pp 10-11
3. Understand the historical development of major
doctrines of Christian theology.

The English word Theology comes from the Greek theos, which means
“God,” and logos, which in English etymology is most commonly
translated as “the study of.”* Theos + Logos = Theology

As in all Torrey Academy classes, our goal in studying theology is not
simply to acquire a certain amount of mental data of who thought what
and when, although you will acquire this.

Our goal in Faith is to explore, as far as our minds can reach, the Triune
God and our relationship to Him as communicated to us through Scripture
and creation.
*Logos can be translated many ways. A more direct translation might employ “word,” “reason,”
“account,” “law,” or a number of other options, depending upon the context.
TA Handbook pp 10-11
4. Apply a historical perspective to Christianity, Christian
doctrine, and the contemporary church.

From our intellectual adventures into the mind and heart of God and His
Church we will hopefully view our churches, our reading of Scripture, and
our daily living in light of His truth.
Class Meetings
TA Handbook p 22
1. Devotional

Like all TA classes, Faith class meetings begin with a short
devotional. However, Faith students have the option of leading
their own devotionals when discussed in advance with their tutor.
TA Handbook p 22
2. Discussion
 The TA Socratic style discussion is practiced in the Faith class as in
all TA classes. After spending 1-2 years finding flaws, invalid
arguments, etc. in their own thinking and in their fellow classmates
thinking, Faith students are prompted to positively construct ideas
and arguments without leaving the logical critical skills behind.
TA Handbook p 22
3. Silent Summary
 Instead of requiring in-class notes, your tutor may require students
to write a “silent summary” of the class discussion during the last
5-10 minutes of class, or your tutor may require you to complete
your silent summary on your own after class.
 Also, the tutor may ask one or more students to summarize the
discussion aloud without the help of notes to further develop the
students’ rhetorical and logical skills.
Writing Assignments
TA Handbook pp 26-27
1. Synopsis

The synopsis takes the place of the précis in the second semester of
Foundations and all year in Faith.

Like the précis, the synopsis is due on the day of the first discussion of the
text. For onsite students, you will turn in the synopsis to your tutor in
class, and for online students, you will send the synopsis as an email
attachment to your tutor.

Only one synopsis is due for each text that we read. Make sure to consult
your reading schedule as some readings only require you to synopsize
certain sections of a text, or may include special instructions for
synopsizing.
TA Handbook pp 26-27
 Unlike the précis, which you compose as you read, the synopsis is
composed after you complete the reading. To do this effectively,
good marginal notes are important.
 There are two parts to the synopsis. First, there is the five-sentence
summary. Unlike a précis that requires a summary of each chapter,
the summary of the synopsis is brief (five sentences, no more and
no fewer) and should encapsulate the main plot/point of the entire
text.
 The second part of the synopsis is a theme explication expanded in
two paragraphs. In this section, students should identify and
explain one major theme of the text with an aim at understanding
the text as a whole. The theme explication must be supported by
citations and/or quotations.
TA Handbook p 27
2. Reflection Essay
 The reflection essay for Faith is the same as the
reflection essay for Inklings and Foundations.
 The reflection essay is usually due either in class or
attached to an email (for online students only), on the
day of the last discussion of a text.
 Please consult the Handbook for the specific
requirements.
TA Handbook p 26
Critical Questions
 For the Dante and Petrarch readings, instead of writing a synopsis,
each student will write critical questions about the poems,
including a four-sentence paragraph explanation accompanying
each question of the importance and significance of each question.
TA Handbook pp 27-30
4. Term Papers
 Unlike the Inklings and Foundations classes, which require two
term papers per semester, Faith only requires one term paper per
semester.
 The Faith term papers have the same general requirements for
thesis statements, drafts, and final drafts as the other TA classes.
TA Handbook pp 27-30
 However, there are a few differences for Faith
papers:
 1. Faith papers have a 2000-2500 word limit.
 2. Faith papers require an annotated bibliography instead of a
works cited.
 3. Faith papers require the integration of at least two secondary
sources.
 4. Your Faith papers will be a revised and refined versions of
the presentation that you will give each semester in class.
FYI
 There are four basic types of theses you can write:

1. Theological – an argument about how the different Biblical principles
fit together, the proper interpretation of specific biblical passages,
and/or the proper application of specific passages.

2. Philosophical – an argument about how we should understand the
world in general and/or mankind.

3. Historical – an argument about the significance of a historical event,
person, or idea.

4. Literary – an argument about the significance of characters, themes,
literary devices, and/or imagery employed by an author.
Presentations
TA Handbook pp 23-24
The presentation is a 15-20 minute explanation in front of
your class of a formal outline that includes an
argumentative thesis, at least three supporting
arguments, and secondary research.
TA Handbook pp 23-24
 After the explanation is finished, you will entertain
questions from your tutor and fellow students regarding
your subject.
 After answering questions, you will then ask your own
questions, leading the class in at least a twenty-minute
TA discussion of the text.
TA Handbook pp 23-24
Purpose
 The purpose of the presentations is to help students begin to
develop their oratory and rhetorical skills.
 With the reading and argumentation in Inklings and Foundations
as the groundwork, Faith students begin to build the skills of
persuasive speaking.
TA Handbook pp 23-24
Requirements
 Thesis

While the thrust of your argumentative thesis can be historical, literary, or
theological, your thesis must primarily deal with one of Faith’s texts.

At the site orientation, you will sign up to do your presentation on one of
the assigned first-semester readings, usually excluding the first and last
readings.

It is your responsibility to independently read your text, choose and
research a related topic, and develop an argumentative thesis based on the
chosen text.

Your thesis and three supporting arguments must be turned in to your
tutor two weeks prior to your presentation.
TA Handbook pp 23-24
 Outline

You will expound upon your thesis in a formal outline (see the Wadsworth
Handbook 39-40, 155).

This formal outline will give at least three major arguments in support of
your thesis and/or in defense of your thesis from opponents.

Your full outline must be turned in to your tutor for approval one week
prior to your presentation.
TA Handbook pp 23-24

This formal outline will incorporate your reading of at least two scholarly
secondary sources that discuss your topic.

A primary source is a text that is considered expert or definitive and
has endured as such through out history. All the texts we read in Faith
are primary.

A secondary source is a scholarly text commenting upon a primary
text.

At the site orientation your tutor will provide you with a list of
secondary sources from which you must choose at least two sources
for your presentation.

Both your primary text and your secondary sources must be read by
your two-week-prior thesis meeting. (Note: DO NOT wait until the
week prior to your first meeting to read all of your texts.)
TA Handbook pp 23-24

This is a primary source:
TA Handbook pp 23-24

This is a secondary source:
TA Handbook pp 23-24

When wondering whether a source counts as “primary” or “secondary,” ask
yourself these questions:

Do we read it for Torrey Academy? If so, it is a primary source.

What is the text about? If a source is written about another work,
whether for the purpose of explicating the work’s content, arguing for
an interpretation of it, or providing contextual information to deepen
one’s understanding of it, then the source is generally going to be a
secondary in nature. If not, it is a primary source.

Is it on the list of approved secondary sources?

What does my tutor think?
TA Handbook pp 23-24

How does one locate secondary sources?

The Biola Library is an excellent resource for secondary sources. All
sources listed on the approved secondary sources list are available at the
Biola Library, and a provisional membership is available to you as a Torrey
Academy student.

Google Books is an essential tool for locating sources electronically. Use
Google books to search for books written about your primary text or
author, to gain author information, and to read free books and articles
written about your text and topic.

Google Scholar operates similarly to Google Books to help you locate
articles on your selected topic. It will link you to sites such as JSTOR and
Wiley Online Library to help you locate articles written about your text
and topic. (Note: While some journal databases such as JSTOR require a
subscription to utilize, operation of said databases is free at the Biola
Library, and pdfs can be saved and sent via email to utilize from home.)
TA Handbook pp 23-24

Additional tips when gathering secondary sources:

Follow “citation trails” once you’ve found one good secondary source
to locate other works written on the same topic.

Remember to utilize both books and scholarly journals. Use every
avenue available to find the best sources for your topic.

Begin your research early (this means at the beginning of the
semester) in order to narrow down your topic and find secondary
sources that will be especially helpful for you.

If you are having trouble, ask your tutor for help. (Just don’t expect a
lot of it if you are asking in the days just prior to your first meeting
concerning your arguments)
TA Handbook pp 23-24

How to utilize secondary sources once you have found them.

Once you’ve gathered the sources you need to research your desired
topic and form a thesis, think of the secondary sources as a
conversation between scholars about the primary text. The authors are
carrying on a Torrey Academy style discussion, but they know a lot
more about the text than your average Torrey Academy Student.

Use your secondary sources to enhance your knowledge of your
selected primary source and to form a thesis (whether theological,
philosophical, historical, or literary) about it.

Feel free to agree or to disagree with a secondary source. In either case,
however, explain why. Secondary sources are there to help, not to be
utilized in arguments from authority.
TA Handbook pp 23-24
 Bibliography

As a part of using secondary sources, you will write an Annotated
Bibliography instead of a Works Cited page.

A Works Cited page simply lists the texts that you cited in your
paper.

An Annotated Bibliography lists all the texts that you read, in
whole or in part, for your paper/presentation regardless of whether
or not you ended up citing them.

An Annotated Bibliography also has a brief description of each
source that includes information about the source’s merit and
pertinence.
TA Handbook pp 23-24
 Meetings

After signing up for your presentation text at site orientation, you will then
schedule your presentation meeting with your tutor.

All students must meet with their tutors two weeks prior to their
presentations. For this meeting students must:

Have completely read their primary text.

Have read at least two secondary sources chosen from a tutorprovided list.

Bring a typed copy of your thesis and at least three supporting
arguments to discuss with your tutor.
TA Handbook pp 23-24
 Meetings

All students must meet with their tutors one week prior to their
presentations. For this meeting students must:

Bring a typed copy of your outline and annotated bibliography. This
should not be thought of as a rough draft. You will discuss your
argument with your tutor and he or she may suggest changes for you
to consider. You may revise your outline as needed during the
following week.
TA Handbook pp 23-24
 Google Groups

Two days prior to your scheduled presentation, you must compose and post
a set of questions in your class group that you will use to lead discussion on
the day of your presentation.
 Presentation Day

On the day of your presentation, you must bring to class copies of your
outline, including your annotated bibliography, for all of your classmates
and your tutor.

You will give your 15-20 minute presentation, receive questions and
feedback, and lead discussion.

All students must come prepared to discuss the presenter’s posted
questions.
Context Lectures
TA Handbook p 31
 Faith students are required to listen to and summarize context
lectures like the Inklings and Foundations students.
TA Handbook p 31
 Faith students must listen to the four-part St. Augustine
Hermeneutics Lecture series before the beginning of classes.
 Additionally, Faith students are required to listen to and summarize
all three lectures of the three-part series on Christology and the
Early Church Councils given by Dr. Fred Sanders of the Torrey
Honors Institute, Biola University.

Listening to and summarizing these three lectures will meet the
first semester context lecture requirements.
 In the second semester, Faith students are free to choose any
lectures from their class list in the toolbox.
Extra Credit
Hands Projects
 You may perform and/or create a piece of music, poetry, play, art,
or manuscript that pertains to the Faith curriculum.
 Because of the amount of time and energy involved, Hands
Projects can increase your semester grade by up to 5%.
 All Hands Projects must be approved by your tutor
 Some examples:





Research and perform a Gregorian Chant
Put on a Shakespeare play
Research allegorical poetry and write your own
Create an illuminated Psalter
Any other creative and substantial project
Extra Credit Reports
(With tutor approval)
 The purpose of extra credit reports is to help the class gain a better
knowledge of the historical events from roughly the intertestamental
period to the middle ages, as well as to help students raise their
grades.
 Each report is worth the same amount as a synopsis or reflection
essay and will be graded along the same lines.
 Students may do one report per quarter.
 Students may sign up to do a report at any time during the quarter.
Report Requirements

It must be 500-550 words long.

It must have a bibliography that includes at least two scholarly sources, one
of which is a reputable encyclopedia, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica or
the Catholic Encyclopedia. For other good academic sources, look at
Oxford and/or Cambridge histories.

The report must include a chronology of events, the major people involved,
and why this subject is relevant to our study.

You must read it aloud at the beginning of class on the day it is due, and
entertain any questions that arise.

You also must bring enough copies for the entire class and the tutor.
And Now…
A Sample Presentation
By Mrs. Barber
“Exit, Pursued by a Bear”:
Bears as Cosmic Catalysts in the Writings of
Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and William
Shakespeare
“Exit, Pursued by a Bear”
 The “exit, pursued by a bear” trope
 Is it a cheap trick?
 Where do we find this trope?
 Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (originator)
 Disney
 Lewis’ That Hideous Strength
 Williams’ Descent into Hell
“Exit, Pursued by a Bear”
 Thesis: Although Mr. Bultitude, Peter Stanhope’s Pastoral
bear, and the Winter’s Tale bear seem to be cheap tropes
employed by the authors solely to move the plot forward in
their respective texts, these three characters are, in fact,
key demonstrators of what Williams terms “the doctrine
of co-inherence,” because, true to the tragicomic pastoral
conventions to which all three texts subscribe, the bears
are agents of change who accomplish divine purposes
within the stories and whose actions allow for the final
comedic marriages at the end of each tale.
The Pastoral
 What is it?
 Pastoral: involving a rural setting (shepherds, traditionally), which
is often portrayed in an idealized or romanticized manner.
 Shared conventions:
 Removal from home to rural setting; shepherd or shepherdess
leading an idealized or romantic life; parted lovers who are
reunited and married; personified goodwill of nature, etc. (Alpers
80-81).
 The “coming together” (con + venio) of all of these elements and
peoples to produce a vision of idyllic, simplified, socially-cohesive
life (Alpers 82).
 Pastoral setting as a place of righting or conquering urban woes.
The Tragicomic Pastoral
 Tragicomic: contains elements of tragedy and comedy
 Pastoral elements:
 Removal from home to rural location, shepherds, prince and
princess meet and fall in love, urban troubles are overcome,
marriage, and everyone is reunited and rejoices.
 Tragicomic elements:
 Tragedy: death, loss, separation, danger
 Comedy: marriage, reunion, joy, victory
The Tragicomic Pastoral

Stanhope’s play, A Pastoral: “ There was the Grand Duke in it, who had a
beautiful daughter, and this daughter either escaped from the palace or was
abducted—anyhow, she came into the power of a number of brigands; and
then there was a woodcutter’s son who frequently burned leaves, and he and
the princess fell in love, and there were two farmers who were at odds, and the
Grand Duke turned up in disguise, first in a village and then in the forest,
through which also wandered an escaped bear, who spoke the most complex
verse of all, excepting the Chorus” (Williams 12).

In the last act, “everyone came in, on the most inadequate excuses, the
Princess and her lover and the Grand Duke and the farmers and the banditti
and the bear; and through the woods went a high medley of wandering beauty
and rejoicing love and courtly intelligence and rural laughter and bloody
clamour and growling animalism, in mounting complexities of verse, and over
all, gathering, opposing, tossing over it, the naughting cry of the allsurrounding and overarching trees” (93).
The Tragicomic Pastoral
 Tragicomic: contains elements of tragedy and comedy
 Pastoral elements:
 Removal from home to rural location, shepherds, prince and
princess meet and fall in love, urban troubles are overcome,
marriage, and everyone is reunited and rejoices.
 Tragicomic elements:
 Tragedy: death, loss, separation, danger
 Comedy: marriage, reunion, joy, victory
Tragicomic Pastoral Bears
 Bears in tragicomic pastoral literature are natural agents
of change because they balance terrifying fierceness with
potential comedic docility (Clubb 28).
Tragicomic Pastoral Bears
 Function of bears in tragicomic pastorals:
 Keep people moving (Williams & Shakespeare)
 Push the action toward comedic resolution
 Sometimes even save the world (Lewis 348; 376)
Bears and Co-Inherence
 Bears help to make up the “pattern of the glory” in their
stories, since, according to Williams, “The glory of God is
in facts” (Williams, qtd. In Hefling 6).
Bears and Co-Inherence
What is “co-inherence”?
“…The word is a kind of Williams trademark, and the idea animates nearly all that
he wrote. He borrowed both [the word and the idea] from the theology of the
Trinity, where co-inherence refers to the way each of the divine persons lives
in and through the other two, inseparably one with them while remaining
distinct. That is what it is to be a divine person—to exist mutually, to have
personal identity that consists entirely in being related to other persons—and
so it also defines what a human person is meant to be. Co-inherence, in other
words, is the principle both of the incomprehensible mystery of the three
personal Individualities who nevertheless exist as one God, and of the plain,
if neglected, truth that human being is being-from and being-in other persons.
In the Trinity, co-inherence is an eternal fact; in humankind, a natural
fact. When those two facts meet the result is a third, supernatural fact, the coinherence of the kingdom, of Christendom, of the church.”
(Hefling 18)
Bears and Co-Inherence
 Co-inherence extends beyond human relations into all
creation by virtue of the Incarnation (Hefling 18).
 Co-inherence makes substitution and exchange possible (as
in Christ’s own sacrifice as well as Stanhope’s and Pauline’s
respective exchanges in Descent into Hell).
 Such exchanges are, for Williams, a moral imperative.
Bears and Co-Inherence
 The conclusion:
 Bears in these stories act within the co-inherence of all
created things in order to fulfill the Providential will of
God.
 Bears act as catalysts, enabling others to fulfill their own
roles in the cosmic dance.
 Pauline’s dress rehearsal vision:
Bears and Co-Inherence
“She was not aware, as the rehearsal proceeded, of any other sensation than
delight. But so clear and simple was that delight, and so exquisitely shared by
all the performers in their separate ways, that as between the acts they talked
and laughed together, and every one in the field, with the exception of
Lawrence Wentworth, joined in that universal joy—so single and fundamental
did it become that once, while again she waited, it seemed to her as if the
words ‘dress rehearsal’ took on another meaning. She saw the ceremonial dress
of the actors, but it did not seem stranger to her than Mrs. Parry’s frock or
Stanhope’s light suit. All things at all times and everywhere, rehearsed; some
great art was in practice and the only business anyone had was to see that his
part was perfect. And this particular rehearsal mirrored the rest—only that
this was already perfected from within, and the other was not yet. The
lumbering bear danced; the Grand Duke uttered his gnomic wisdom; the
Princess and the Woodcutter’s Son entered into the lucid beauty of first love,
and the bandits fell apart within.”
(Williams 147)
Conclusion
 “Exit, pursued by a bear”: not just a cheap plot device.
 These bears may seem like minor characters, but they too
have their verses to speak and their lumbering dances to
perform, and without them there could be no comedic
resolution.
Conclusion
 According to Williams, it seems that the whole world is a
tragicomedy, and it is each person’s duty, be he shepherd,
duke, brigand, or bear, to seek the will of Providence, to
take his place in the cosmic dance, and to delight in the
closing of the play, the resolution of the divine comedy,
wherein Christ and his Church come together in the eternal
union of a most glorious marriage.
Exit
(hopefully not pursued by a bear)