Heirloom Audio For The Temple Review

My family had the privilege of listening to For The Temple from Heirloom Audio for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

My family and I love audio books! We love to listen to them while: I am multitasking, we have a long drive ahead of us, or there is cruddy weather and we are stuck inside. My family usually enjoys them better if they are fun and adventuresome. I believe they are better than movies because audio books require more imagination which is great for growing minds.

For The Temple is Heirloom Audio's 11th dramatization which is adapted from a novel by George Alfred Henty. G.A. Henty authored many historical fiction novels in the late 1800's and early 1900's, including For The Temple in 1880. All eleven Christian audio dramas are from Heirloom Audio's series known as The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty. This audio production and theatrical radio drama consists of 2 and a half hours of masterful storytelling on 2 CDs recommended for ages 6-adult. I cannot say enough good things about this. Really, the presentation is very extraordinary! It brings the history to life.

This audio theater follows John, the son of a wine maker and merchant, as he chooses to fight to protect the Temple from Roman conquest. Under the instruction of Josephus he goes on to become leader of a band of young men who will prove to be some of the Roman's most formidable foes. Along his journey he gains a good friend, Jonas, who saves John's life and his family takes in. This exciting and adventurous tale is all about the First Jewish–Roman War and destruction of the Temple by the Romans.

inside the case to For The Temple audio theater

I had some definite favorite parts of the Christian radio theatre. We liked the part of where John was training his men and one said something about using bad breath for a weapon. We also liked the part about John being very humble when he came home and not mentioning that he was the "Other John" Mary and Martha were speaking of that created mischief for the Romans because of the exaggeration of the stories. Titus's friendship of John was very fortuitous and in the end helped John and Jonas out of a pickle.

The 2 CD audio theater set itself has some nice bonuses if you get the physical version with the download. It has a list of the cast on the back of the case, a pamphlet insert that has a bit about Heirloom Audio's other audio dramas, and in the center under where the pamphlet goes is the quote from Josephus, "The time is coming when every jew who can bear arms will be needed in the service of his country. Your hopes cannot stop it.".

For The Temple Single Package includes:

• For The Temple (CD Set - Physical Copy + Instant Access MP3 Download)

Adventure Progress

• Chapter 1 – Cafe Landtmann
• Chapter 2 – The Storm
• Chapter 3 – Recruited
• Chapter 4 – Loyalty
• Chapter 5 – A Mighty Armada
• Chapter 6 – First Taste of War
• Chapter 7 – Jotapata Stands
• Chapter 8 – Jotapata Falls
• Chapter 9 – To Life!
• Chapter 10 – Leader of the Band
• Chapter 11 – Let The Harassment Begin
• Chapter 12 – A Hero is Born
• Chapter 13 – Tobin of Gischalla
• Chapter 14 – The Other John
• Chapter 15 – We Are Pledged to the Temple
• Chapter 16 – A Walk Interrupted
• Chapter 17 – Promises To Keep
• Chapter 18 – Good News, Bad News
• Chapter 19 – The Holy City
• Chapter 20 – Battles Inside and Out
• Chapter 21 – The Cruel Face of War
• Chapter 22 – The Wall
• Chapter 23 – For The Temple
• Chapter 24 – August 5th AD 70
• Chapter 25 – The Road To Rome
• Chapter 26 – Homecoming
• Chapter 27 – Always More Stories

The Homeschool Review Crew that received this for review received all of the above and these additional bonuses:

• For The Temple Study Guide (Digital Download)

The all-star cast in this audio book is expansive and amazing. Some of the cast consists of Brian Blessed as G.A. Henty (Star Wars, Tarzan, Robin Hood, King Lear), Chris Larkin as Simon of Gadez (Master and Commander, Valkyrie), Jolyon Coy as Titus (Beauty and the Beast), Julian Rhind-Tutt as Josephus (Oliver Twist), Cathy Sara as Martha (Downton Abbey), and George Blagden as Simeon (Les Misérables). It is always great to hear the boisterous voice of Brian Blessed on these productions. All of the cast's performances are wonderful! The character building is wonderful too as long as you can keep up.

The six stars behind For The Temple.

I love the music and sound effects that accompany this program. The music that is used on the CDs is adventurous. It is an original score by Emmy-winning composer John Campbell (of Narnia). The Foley sound effects make you feel like you are right there with the characters and immerses you more into what's happening.


There is also a study guide that is 51 pages long. It has discussion points and questions to ask your children as they listen to the radio theater. This is wonderful to use as part of a history curriculum while homeschooling. It is really easier to listen to the whole program before you do the study guide and then listen again a second time to do the study guide, in my opinion. It feels awkward to stop and start the program so many times (every 4 to 10 minutes) during play. I wish this study guide had the tracks and time-stamp to stop at marked in the guide so you knew where the narrative takes a new turn, but it doesn't.


At the beginning of the study guide there is a list of the cast and crew and a brief introduction. Each track has questions in the study guide having three parts: Listening Well, Thinking Further, and Defining Words. There are questions in the Listening Well section which are to see if you and your child are really paying attention. There are questions in the Thinking Further section that helps you understand deeper and get you and your child thinking more. The Defining Words section is a list of words that will enhance the vocabulary of your child and places more meaning for the story. Having a dictionary handy might be appropriate because the definitions of the words are not already spelled out.

At the end of the study guide there are four main parts. The first is information about More on the Destruction of Jerusalem for Older Readers. After that there are three Bible Studies: one on No Other Savior, one on Proper Worship, and one on Christ Our Temple. Then there is a Some Background for Our Story portion which goes more into detail about: The Abomination of Desolation and The End of the Old Covenant Age.

My children learned and understood so much more with this study guide. We used the questions and Bible study section throughout and it made for a very lengthy, but interesting discussion session with my older kids. I am very glad that it was included. I love the scriptures it had you look up and ponder too. I also love that there were sections in boxes throughout the guide for further reading and other information to further your knowledge. I do wish, however, that there was an answer guide as well to the questions, because it would make the whole thing flow better in my opinion.


This was a very good production and my family enjoyed listening to it thoroughly. This audio book would be a wonderful addition to a Christian homeschooling curriculum and perfect to go along with a study about the First Jewish–Roman War, Temple of Jerusalem, and The Arch of Titus.

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