Doctoral Program (PhD) and (DMin)
An accessible and fully-funded program designed to serve both the academy and the church.
Vision and Mission
Foundational for the doctoral program at PRTS is the emphasis on both the academic and spiritual formation of the student. There is a growing demand for a comprehensive doctoral program that captures academic rigor and combines this with biblical piety (de pietate cum scientia conjungenda). It is furthermore necessary that a doctoral program serve the ministry of both the academy and church (teaching and preaching). Secondly, aspiring doctoral students from around the world are looking for a PhD and DMin degree program that is affordable and accessible, one that accommodates learning from a distance.
PRTS seeks to adhere to the Reformed and Puritan tradition of blending learning and piety as exemplified by John Calvin (1509-1564), William Perkins (1558-1602), William Ames (1576-1633), Gisbertus Voetius (1589-1676), Archibald Alexander (1772-1851), and many others. We aim to do so by offering a PhD program that is distinctive in its academics and biblical piety; this is evident in the admission requirements, the program’s academic rigor, and the spiritual formation components of the program.
Doctoral Program Overview
For several years, PRTS has had the desire to create a doctoral program that would serve both the church and the academy—a program that would be academically rigorous, confessional in its commitment, unique in its delivery, competitive in its cost, spiritually edifying to its students, and above all, glorifying to God.
Watch this overview video to find out more.
Academics
The PhD program is academically rigorous as we offer a comprehensive doctoral program with high, measurable, and internationally peer-reviewed academic standards. The academics are further enhanced by a dedicated faculty for the doctoral program combined with qualified, PRTS-approved scholars serving as adjunct faculty and co-advisors for the doctoral students. The program is also further enhanced by external courses to be taken by the PhD student outside PRTS, and the goal of publishing the doctoral dissertations with an academic and internationally-recognized publishing house.
Research
The PhD program at PRTS is supported by a vast number of primary and secondary sources along with other research resources found in the Puritan Research Center (PRC). The PRC is the culmination of a dream that is decades old and offers exciting possibilities for promoting the appreciation of Reformed and Puritan literature around the world. The PRC’s aim is to assemble the largest possible collection of resources on the Puritans, including antiquarian books (mostly from the seventeenth century) and modern reprints of Puritan writings, as well as secondary source materials on the Puritans such as books, dissertations, and articles.
A Worldwide Reach
The PhD program at Puritan provides the best of hybrid learning through technology and traditional teaching. This provides an advanced and affordable education that does not compromise academic standards and spiritual focus.
View current PhD studentsA Robust Program that is Fully Funded and Able to be Completed On or Off Campus
Resonating with the Reformed and Puritan tradition of international learning, PRTS’s doctoral program has a strong international dimension that articulates biblical, reformed doctrine, and biblical experiential preaching and teaching.
The rationale of our doctoral program focuses on both scientia (academics) and pietas (biblical piety), and is supported by two considerations: technology and expense. The immense change in the field of education through the deployment of technology is compelling many graduate programs to re-think their approach to research, education, and publication. PRTS has implemented a doctoral program with a well-built technology component offering digitized primary and secondary sources for research and education (to this end, PRTS has smart-room(s) designed for distance education and the deployment of digital writing tools for publication). Indeed, technology is integral to the PhD program, taking the classroom to non-residential students with the hopes of a more effective knowledge transfer; the desire is for a hybrid or blended-learning environment that includes in-class contact sessions (on campus or online) and online-only sessions.
Secondly, the cost of PhD programs are often so high that it is not feasible for students to attain such a doctorate; furthermore, to laden students with debt at the very point of entering the ministry of teaching and preaching is questionable practice. Thus, PRTS seeks to address these challenges in a sustainable way; we aim to lower the cost of a PhD by:
- delivering educational content through technology;
- reducing the time required to be on-campus;
- providing 8-10 fully-funded opportunities each academic year.
PRTS aims to do this without compromising its academic standards and spiritual focus.
In sum, PRTS prepares students to serve Christ and His church through biblical, experiential, and practical ministry through a PhD program with concentrations in Historical Theology (Reformation & Post-Reformation studies) and Biblical Studies.
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