Acts to Revelation {A Drive Thru History Review}
I never realized until I began teaching my own children ancient history how knowledge of historical events surrounding those in the Bible could help to increase my understanding. This year we have been studying the New Testament together as a family. I have really enjoyed the insights provided in Drive Thru HistoryⓇ “Acts to Revelation.” Drive Thru HistoryⓇ and host Dave Stotts have a magical way of engaging viewers. All the while taking them on a historical journey full of informative information, beautiful locations, and some quirky facts.
A Beautiful Case
“Acts to Revelation: The World of the First Christians” is a three disc set containing 18 episodes. The episodes give a historical account of the Bible covered in those books. This special edition set contains the discs inside the front and back covers of a book. The center of the book contains beautiful full color pictures, summaries of the episodes, suggested readings, discussion questions and the “Side Road’s.” The Side Roads contain additional facts about people or events during the time frame of the episode. I quite liked the simple design of the case and that it allows me to keep it on my bookshelf with other similar references.
When my kids hear the Drive Thru HistoryⓇ theme song, they tend to leave whatever they are doing to watch. They enjoy watching the episodes just as much as my husband and I. Dave’s personality offers just the right amount of goofy humor to keep kids captivated while presenting facts and information. My husband and I also appreciate his humor. It isn’t over the top, but flows well within the context of his topic.
The Study Guide
I really liked having the study guide that was contained in the case. Often my kids would just pick it up and browse through it. They liked looking at the pictures and reading the Side Roads. Sometimes they would read a summary of one of the upcoming episodes and get excited to watch it.
The discussion questions were helpful to see what our children remembered and in just using as talking points later on. I also used the guide with the corresponding episode to prepare for a Bible study on Paul’s letters to the Philippians.
What I Liked About It
I liked that at the end of each episode they directed the viewer back to the scriptures to read the account from the Bible itself. The suggested readings were also listed in the study guide.
It was fascinating to be able to see ruins and inscriptions of names contained within the accounts of the Bible. We also liked learning about everyday life at the time of Christ’s apostles. No one was a fan of their public toilets and everyone was glad Dave carried around hand sanitizer. There were also some sobering moments. Such as when Dave was explaining why he couldn’t travel into Damascus due to terrorist activity against Christians.
Studying the historical events surrounding those that take place in the Bible will not only increase your understanding of the scriptures. It can also give you a greater appreciation for the trials the individuals went through and help you to feel a greater connection with them.
I would definitely recommend that Acts to Revelation find a place in your Gospel library. It is a series that your family will love and will happily watch over and over again. Use it time and again to supplement your scripture reading and further your knowledge of gospel facts.
