# Puritan Reformed Certificate?



## arapahoepark (Dec 2, 2019)

Does anyone have experience with a certificate via from Puritan Preformed Seminary? I am entertaining the idea of getting one in church history. If not, for those of you who went what would you say about the church history courses?

Reactions: Rejoicing 1


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## Polanus1561 (Dec 2, 2019)

Is it for your own edification or towards a degree course? As a PRTS student I feel that church history can be learnt by good books, Ligonier series etc.

Reactions: Amen 1


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## psycheives (Dec 2, 2019)

arapahoepark said:


> Does anyone have experience with a certificate via from Puritan Preformed Seminary? I am entertaining the idea of getting one in church history. If not, for those of you who went what would you say about the church history courses?



As one who got an HT degree at WSCal, I agree with John. Unless it is for a very specific job, I highly recommend you do the reading at home instead. I heard about 500 people (including known pastors/theologians) applied for one HT position at WSCal, so the competition is very tough.


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## Polanus1561 (Dec 3, 2019)

Take a look at Nick Needham's books and move on from there.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## wcf_linux (Dec 3, 2019)

I have HT degrees from mainline schools, but I want to give a slightly different take. 

You can learn a lot in HT from individual reading. I certainly have. Still, it generally helps to have other people with whom you can discuss what you read, because discussing elements of a text can really increase what you get out if it. To the extent that a formal course gives you more opportunities for discussion, that is an advantage to taking courses. 

A bigger advantage is that the structure and accountability of a formal course can get you through useful books that, for whatever reason, you might not pick up or finish on your own time. It's not just long books. I've read dense doorstoppers on my own, but I've only been able to get through the longer dialogues of Plato (which still aren't that long!) in the context of a class. It's not that I don't like Plato. I do, at least when I'm studying it for a class! Similarly, I like various kinds of scholastic theology, and the study of it (both medieval and Protestant) is very useful. I even tend to really like it! But for some reason it's a lot easier (for me!) to work through more of it in the context of a course.

I will add that psycheives is completely right that there are many more people interested in studying historical theology/church history than paid positions for teaching it. I was looking at the academic job market at one point. Knowing how grim the prospects are took some of the edge off having to drop out of a Church History PhD program during the dissertation stage!

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1


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## arapahoepark (Dec 16, 2019)

Thanks for the advice.
I have been slowly plowing some books, and will tackle the big primary sources after.
I also thought about getting a masters in history of some sort (have been told it leads to more money, makes you competitive for schools, etc.) yet I am backing away from that idea; I have already spent enough getting my license.


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