RTS Washington, D.C. Celebrates the Academic Achievements of Advanced Studies Program Participants

Washington, D.C.—RTS Washington, D.C. is pleased to announce the academic achievements of students in the campus’ Advanced Studies Program, including this year’s participants Emma Armbrust and Mason Jones and program alumnus Isaac Whitney. The RTS Washington, D.C. Advanced Studies Program offers preparation and mentoring to students who intend to pursue a doctoral degree beyond seminary.

Advanced Studies Program 2024-25 Cohort Completion

On April 29, RTS Washington marked the completion of its second Advanced Studies Program cohort with presentations by this year’s participants, Emma Armbrust and Mason Jones.

Emma Armbrust presented her Advanced Studies paper “Beatitude in Christ: John Owen and the Visio Dei,” which examined John Owen’s Christocentric vision of beatitude and its implications for the saints in via. Emma is a Master of Arts in Religion student at RTS Washington. After studying languages in Europe, she hopes to pursue doctoral work in theological aesthetics centered on beauty as God’s self-disclosure in Christ and creation.

Mason Jones presented his Advanced Studies paper “Navigating the Space between Barth and Bavinck: Seeking to Reconcile Barth’s Actualism with Bavinck’s Organicism.” The paper engaged with recent works seeking to synthesize the theologies of Karl Barth and Herman Bavinck, exploring the difficulties that the two theologians’ differences in ontology raise for this task, and suggesting a potential avenue for constructive dialogue between the two. Mason is pursuing his Master of Divinity through the hybrid MDiv program at RTS Orlando, and he serves with Campus Outreach in Grand Rapids, MI. Mason hopes to pursue doctoral studies concerning modern questions about the God-world relation, specifically in the realms of metaphysics and epistemology.

Advanced Studies Program Alumni Update

Isaac Whitney (MA ’25), a member of the inaugural cohort of the Advanced Studies Program (2023-24), had his paper “The Body and the Image of God in Bavinck and the Reformed Orthodox” published in Cambridge University Press’s Scottish Journal of Theology. In addition, Isaac has been awarded a full scholarship for doctoral studies in Systematic Theology at the University of Edinburgh, where he plans to study Herman Bavinck’s theological psychology following his May 2025 graduation from the RTS Washington Master of Arts in Religion program. Isaac serves as a pastoral assistant at Christ Church West Chester in Pennsylvania.

Directed by Dr. Gray Sutanto, associate professor of systematic theology at RTS Washington, the Advanced Studies track includes seminars on advanced topics, instruction on research methods, Dutch language training, and a writing project.

Dr. Sutanto commented, “The Advanced Studies program has been a wonderful opportunity for students not only to prepare for further study but also to think about the ways in which the Reformed tradition engages contemporary issues in the academy, culture, and the church. These first cohorts have been stellar, and I could not be more thrilled about the kind of work our students are doing.”

RTS students may apply to the Advanced Studies track, and accepted students participate in a one-year cohort. Priority is given to RTS Washington, D.C. students. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, with admission announcements anticipated in July of each year.

_________________________________