Journey into the World of the First Christians with Drive Thru History® {Product Review}

Last year we were introduced to the amazing Dave Stotts and Drive Thru History®, when we reviewed The Gospels curriculum. My boys quickly fell in love with the program and Dave Stotts. When we had a chance to review the newest addition to the Drive Thru History® family, Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation", we were very eager to go on a trip through the New Testament with Dave as our guide again.

About The Product

Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" explores the world of the First Christians during the time immediately after Christ’s death and resurrection. Starting in Jerusalem and using the Book of Acts as a roadmap, we are taken through the Mediterranean region with Dave Stotts as he shares the people, places, and events that launched Christianity. The DVD’s contain 18 episodes (30 minutes each for 9 hours of footage) which explore
the lives of Peter, James, Philip, and Stephen through Israel. We follow the missionary routes of Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy. The series ends with John on the isle of Patmos and explores the seven churches of Revelation in Asia Minor. Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" brings the New Testament adventures of the first Christians to life!

Included with the 3 DVD’s is a full color study guide which allows you to review the information from each episode through discussion questions, do readings in your Bible, and have extra information (aka. Side roads) to learn more about the people or culture. The answers to all the questions are in the back of the study guide.

Our Thoughts on the Product

We were so excited to receive this set! Our family fell in LOVE with The Gospels and we were eager to get started. THIS time, we had the bonus of including my husband in the viewing, as we saved them to watch on our Sabbath evening every week. From the very first episode, he was enthralled with the show. Once we watched an episode, I’d use the study guide to ask the discussion questions to my boys and then our family would talk about any key points we’d learned. Because my oldest son is currently working through an independent study on the book of Acts, he ESPECIALLY enjoyed this series and seeing his scriptures brought to life and explained more deeply.

Pardon the bare feet. LOL.

My husband really enjoyed seeing the maps to show the journeys the apostles took, as well as seeing the on location cities. I agree that this is possibly my favorite aspect of the show. It definitely makes the scripture places and events more real when reading them. I like how the show brings up certain key figures in history or events or culture that connects to the scriptures. One thing the show brought up that my husband and I had never noticed before was that there are actually TWO different Antioch’s in the Bible. For some reason, we had always just assumed it was mentioning the same one. We both made notations in our Bibles about that little tidbit. My husband said he also likes seeing the architecture--like the city arches and gates--which still remain. He says it’s kind of mind blowing to think Paul himself would have walked under them when they were “new”.

Study Guide Clearly Lays out Each Episode

My youngest son’s favorite things are when Dave Stotts acts silly on the show. My oldest son has really enjoyed seeing the passages and people he’s reading about in Acts come to life. He really appreciates the style everything is presented in and finds Dave Stotts humorous. He says seeing the places “for real” make the Bible in general more real. He also likes the way Dave incorporates the artifacts which back up the Bible’s authenticity.

Example of what is in each episode's discussion pages

Because we are trying to watch them all together as a family, we haven’t had a chance to work through the entire set yet. We are trying to do some of the readings from the study guide and have discussion. We are halfway thru at this point—in the middle of the missionary journeys. I’m really looking forward to when we “visit” John on the isle of Patmos for the discussion about the seven churches of Revelation.

One thing that my husband has mentioned is that this is a very valuable resource for anyone who is looking to expand their knowledge of the history of the Bible. He says that he plans on incorporating some of this information into future messages he will give at church or for church wide Bible studies. He’s a visual learner, so this series has just really helped make the scriptures “more than words”. I agree 100%. Whether a child or a senior citizen—and everywhere in between—the information and presentation of this material is perfect.

Now that my husband has been watching these, he is lamenting the fact he missed being able to see The Gospels series. We are going to try to snag a DVD copy of them in the future to add to our library. My parents are also eager to watch these DVD’s when we are done—my mom whet her whistle on a couple of The Gospels episodes with me and the boys so she KNOWS they are good.

Just as a note, the videos include a LOT of cultural art depictions of different biblical events--like images of stained glass windows, famous art work, ect. Some may be uncomfortable with that, so I just wanted to include it as a little note. The program itself is pretty non-denominational--just exploring the biblical history and culture of the scriptures, without doctrinal extrapolations. In fact, the program EMPHASIZES that the viewer should read their Bible to review the information that is presented.

The DVD collection is superb and really is a must have resource if you can manage it! It would also be a GREAT resource for church wide bible study, or even a bible co-op class.

Want to Know More?

For the last several weeks our family has been reviewing Drive Thru History® "Acts to Revelation" from Drive Thru History®. You have seen how much we've loved it, but I encourage you to visit other crew members and see how their family used the program and their thoughts on it!

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