For the Temple by Heirloom Audio -- A New TOS Crew Review

One of our favorite things to do while driving is the car is to listen to audio books. So, when we had the opportunity to get the lastest Christian audio drama from Heirloom Audio we JUMPED at the chance! This newest selection of G.A. Henty's audio theater is called For the Temple and it was a fantastic audio presentation of how some of the Jewish people in and around 67 - 70 A.D. defended the Temple from the Romans.

For the Temple is a 2 CD set that contains about 2.5 hours worth of dramatized adventure based on the book by G. A. Henty. We also received a 51 page downloadable study guide that went along with the story. The cast that helps bring the radio theater production to life include Brian Blessed, Joseph Reed, Cathy Sara, and many more ...  a fully star-studded production!

Within the story we follow John, later know as John of Gamala, who is passionate about protecting and saving the Temple from the destructive path of the Romans on their road to control all of the land within their power. As we listen to the story unfold we hear names like Vespasian (the current Roman emperor), Nero, Titus (a future Roman Emperor), even Josepheus a Jewish historian who also wrote about Biblical happenings as well as what was going on in the world at this same time.

In the end you may know that the Temple does get destroyed, but we find out more about how John of Gamala becomes a man, while being challenged on how to protect the Temple while not being discovered by the Romans, with a small pact of men that really should not have done as much damage to the Romans as he did. We follow him as he courageously steps in where many other Jews were more concerned with in-fighting. But we aso watch as he gets captured, possibly dies, and continues to press on due to his love and family with the idea that if he does his job (prtecting the Temple) he can go back to being a farmer. Will he make it there? You will have to find out for yourself when you listen to this historically accurate dramatized reenactment of a mostly overlooked time in the Jewish history. It was fascinating!

As we listened over a series of rides in the van the kids would always want to listen longer and we would sit in the driveway to at least come to a better stopping point ... you know when there's a break in the talking. The story definitely captured our attention from the very first to the end. As you listen to the scirmishes and battles, you feel as if you are surrounded by clashing swords and javelins whizzing by your head! It's amazing how 'in the moment' you truly feel!

Now I mentioned earlier that For the Temple also came with a 50+ page study guide created by  Heirloom Audio to help parents talk through the story as well as have essays and other writing assignments for older students. There are also recommended reading on the historical time period as well as 3 short Bible studies to help focus you and your students on the themes you ran across while listening.

There are sets of questions for about each 4-8 minutes of listening, roughly the same for each track on the CD. The questions are divided into three catagories:

1. Listening Well -- the easiest of the questions and really have to do what your student heard or remembers from the listening.
2. Thinking Further -- here your student will have to infer and think a little more, speculate about why the characters did what they do, draw a conclusion, look something up, etc. There isn't a true "correct" answer, but you will have to also help your student by telling them what resources they will need to use to answer these.
3. Defining Words -- essentially what it says you expand your students vocabulary and could use these as your spelling words for the next few weeks as you listen to the story multiple times and research.

As I mentioned above there are also some Bible Studies to explore more the Biblical implications of the production. The ones included for For the Temple are labeled No Other Savior (only one way to know Jesus); Proper Worship (the true way to worship our Lord and Savior), and Christ our Temple (We are a body and that we are all living stones of His Temple). These provide great opportunties to teach and discuss with your children where they are in their own faith and how they can continue to grow just as we see the character of John and Jonas grow in this story. 

I love how when we are listening to these rich audio dramas that my entire family is experiencing them and that the discussions keep coming even weeks later. We generally keep some of our favorite audios in the van for "longish" trips (sometimes just the 20 minutes to karate or horseback riding) and that they find new and interesting tidbits they may have missed the first time. 

I also love when they re-enact some of what they heard in their own play. That is a mark of a good story. My favorite part of the story was the end when John tells his wife he wants to go find a man he met many years back that was a follower of The Way (the Messiah, Yeshua) and then he goes to Rome and talks to his old friend, Titus, now the Emperor of Rome and tells him of The Way. 

I hope you read about what others on the Crew thought about this fantastic audio drama, For the Temple, by clicking the link below. You can also find Heirloom Audio on Facebook, Twittter, and Insagram.