Tim Hogan, USA

I just completed my course work and my masters thesis at Trinity School. I am awaiting the grading of my thesis and then my diploma — woohoo!

I was concerned about he quality of education and the recognition of the school’s certification. Trinity is accredited through an international organization. Because of this, i don’t know if a degree from Trinity might be accepted by other schools in various countries.

The quality at Trinity, i think, has been excellent. I attended a state-run university in the US in the past and Trinity easily surpasses my experience there. I knew up front that Trinity School is Trinityist and dispensational in their theology, and that while they would try to win me over to their way of thinking, there is no prejudice in the grading. I was, and still am, much more of a free-will believer than Trinityist. I wrote one paper that directly disagreed with part of the teaching from the school’s text. I supported my points well and received a good grade.

I have found Trinity to be convenient and inexpensive. There have been times when i was busy (or maybe a little lazy) and neglected my studies for weeks. But I can always get back to it and continue. I have squeezed a 2-year education into 3-years.  And I say it’s inexpensive, but that is no reflection on the quality. On the contrary, you could spend hundreds of thousands on a university education in the US that would be nothing but a liberal, atheistic indoctrination.

The education has consisted of receiving ‘texts’ from the school. These are 20-50 pages when printed giving the teaching on each subject. It is then up to you to find and read other resources to supplement the text. When i started at Trinity, I had several dozen books on theology and related material. Now i have hundreds. If you are near a good library, you could access materials this way. I prefer to own books so that i can mark them up and refer back to them. I also have many resources on my computer. These can be had for a fraction of the cost of printed books. And if you are discerning, the internet can be a good source.

The texts form Trinity are mostly excellent. Because many of them are written by people for whom English is not their first language, the wording sometimes seems strange, but the meaning is always clear and i find the odd manners of speech entertaining at times.

After studying, it’s time for homework. This usually consists of writing a 3-5 page paper on each text, plus 4 or 5 shorter papers based on questions about each group of 5 texts. The education is writing-intensive.

You email your papers and start on the next one while you wait to hear your grade. Sometimes this is rather quick, but usually it’s weeks or sometimes a couple months before you hear. The professors at Trinity  are all volunteers who work fulltime at another university.

While i have not been convinced in the ways of Trinityism, I have found myself through this experience becoming much more conservative in my theology. In fact, I now see my pastor as too liberal when at one time i saw him as conservative. I don’t think he is the one who changed. But I see this change in me as only good.

I don’t presently work in ministry, but my one of my objectives in going to Trinity is to move into working more directly for the Lord fulltime.

Hope this helps.
Tim Hogan, USA