Join Us in Ancient Rome in FOR THE TEMPLE from Heirloom Audio {Product Review}

Whenever there is a chance to review one of the amazing audiodramas from Heirloom Audio, I always beg like the child hopping up and down HOPING the teacher will notice and pick him. Our family LOVES these amazing audiodramas and we all were excited to be able to listen to the latest installment For the Temple!

About the Product

For the Temple the latest installment in the Heirloom Audio collection of award winning audiodramas. This 2 CD audiodrama, based on the book by G. A. Henty of the same name, focuses on the days and events leading up to the final destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. The story follow both Romans and Jews during this time period and incorporates many
real historical events and figures like Josephus, Titus, Vespacian, and more. The plot follows a young Jewish man named John who is recruited into the Jewish army to defend against the Roman invaders, thus leaving behind his family’s vineyard, mother, and fiance. Over the course of the next years, he ends up making a name for himself as a rebel leader known for making sneak attacks against the Romans and causing havoc. Through the course of the events he meets a group of Christians and over time begins to question whether or not the destruction of the temple may be God’s punishment on the Jews, and something prophesied.

The audiodrama is an exciting two hour adventure RIPE with battle scenes and when you close your eyes, you feel just like you are watching a movie. As usual, the production is high quality with a stellar voice cast (Brian Blessed, Cathy Sara, Jolyon Coy, and more!).

I was also given the bonus resource of the For the Temple study guide! This study guide is a great way to explore the story and information of the audiodrama far beyond the plot itself. The story guide matches each track of the audiodrama and each track is split into three parts: Listening Well, Thinking Further, and Defining Words.

The Listening Well questions ask your child what he has heard or what he remembers. Some of the questions are easier than others, but the answers are all straight from the story itself.

The Thinking Further questions ask your child to critical thinking relating to the story. They may ask questions about something historical mentioned in the story, or ask your child to draw conclusions relating to the characters’ actions or words, or maybe even have them think about the intentions of someone. This section allows for you to help your child increase their understanding of the story by asking the “why” questions. You may need to supply resources to help them answer questions in this section.

The Defining Words section is simply that—vocabulary words from the story. These can be defined in advance, or have your child use a dictionary to find them.

Our Thoughts on the Product

I really liked the Josephus biography and the diagram of the siege of the temple. Those were things I was most interested in myself. In regards to Josephus, my oldest son asked me why that name sounded familiar. I was able to use the biography in the Study Guide to share more information about him. I also mentioned that he hears the name referenced at church as a lot of the ministers refer to the Book of Josephus when discussing Jewish history.

When we were done listening to the story, I did some research of my own to learn more about the information discussed. It was interesting to see how many of the characters were real from the story.

Unlike some of the other audiodramas, this one had a very subtle reference to Christianity and the characters don’t really come to faith “aha” moments until the end of the story. I thought the way they tied in the story of Jesus Christ to be cleverly done.

One thing that my oldest mentioned was how in the story, the Romans discovered the holy artifacts of the temple were gone—he said “That’s why no one knows where it is! Because someone had already moved it!” He mentioned that he remembers that being mentioned in an Indiana Jones movie. LOL!

The boys loved this story. They were so into it, they begged me to let us keep listening to it one afternoon. It was the perfect activity for a snow day. My oldest says it’s one of his favorites from the whole collection.

One last thing--if you would rather have this audiodrama as an mp3, that is also something you could go for as an option too!

*****

We reviewed For the Temple from Heirloom Audio and loved it! Make sure you visit the other crew members to see what they thought of this adventure story!

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