Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
We’ve always been huge fans of any program from this vendor, so we were really thrilled to be able to review Bible Unearthed by Drive Thru History® Adventures.
WHAT IS IT:?
Bible Unearthed is a brand new online video course from Drive Thru History® Adventures. In fact, it’s so new that it’s not yet available but will be coming very soon!
This program includes a series of 12 video episodes highlighting archaeological discoveries that corroborate people, places, and events in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. It also includes worksheets that contain 5 discussion questions and 1 expository question with a corresponding answer guide, plus“Dig Deeper” articles for further research.
This is a self-paced course, but the suggested pace is to complete one lesson per week over the course of 12 weeks.
This course will be available for just $59.95 with lifetime access. As an alternative, you can purchase an Adventures All-Access pass to all available Adventures courses for a period of one year for just $119.95.
OUR EXPERIENCE:
This program can be used in various ways to meet your family’s needs. My last homeschooled student is just 12 years old, so I did not want to use it as curriculum. I actually wanted to use it just for the video content for myself! I am quite familiar with Drive-Thru History®, particularly since I have previously reviewed both The Gospels and Acts to Revelation in recent years. I found this program to be an excellent follow-up to those series.
Although I didn’t use the course materials that go along with the episodes, I do want to give a quick overview of what is provided. The suggested pace is to complete one episode with its corresponding materials each week. A week’s work could include watching a video episode, completing an optional activity when provided, reading a “Dig Deeper” article and/or doing outside research when provided, re-watching the episode while reviewing the written materials, and completing the worksheet with short answers, comparing the student’s responses with the answer guide. Grading is optional. The worksheets and bible readings can be printed for students who prefer to work from hard copies. The program also suggests that advanced students may want to use a particular book about bible archaeology as a supplemental resource for additional research. It’s written by Titus Kennedy, who is the featured archaeologist who leads the video episodes alongside Dave Stotts and Randall Niles. In addition, participants in this course can join the Adventures Community Facebook group to discuss and comment further with others who are using the Adventures courses.
Lesson Text Worksheet Supplemental Material
Each episode lasts about 15 minutes, so it doesn’t require a huge time commitment. Personally, I found that once I sat down and started watching an episode, it was nearly impossible to stop at just one! In fact, I think I completed all 12 episodes in just two sittings! They were just that interesting. And my 12-year old son wandered in on one of those occasions and ended up watching a couple of episodes with me himself. He was nearly as fascinated as I was! This series really draws in your attention like a magnet.
The series begins by discussing what archaeology is, how a site is mapped and documented, and what tools are used. Then it goes into the impact of archaeology and the kinds of things that can be corroborated with archaeological discoveries.
Then it goes into the way in which artifacts and archaeological sites either corroborate or dispel information that has been put forth as historical facts, such as in the Bible.
Next, it talks about what a typical day looks like in the life of an archaeologist and what kinds of activities they do when they are out on a dig site. Then it goes into what kinds of things are being discovered today. It takes you through some of the cities from Bible times that are currently being excavated and starts to outline some of the artifacts that correspond to Old Testament places and people. In addition to excavations, Titus Kennedy talks about some of the forgotten artifacts he’s found in places like museum basements.
Next, it covers some of the archaeological mysteries that remain…places and objects that are still being sought after, but that have not yet been discovered or verified. This includes Noah’s Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, and the sites of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Then comes some exciting material…the “top 25” archaeological discoveries pertaining to the bible. These are itemized in the text in chronological order. The video goes through some of them and talks more about them. Here, we get into some of the New Testament correlations. This was my favorite of all of the episodes, as it was so meaty and took viewers on location to some of the sites. I felt very “wowed” after watching this episode.
Following that, the series got into how people can become archaeologists, what education is required, and what kinds of jobs they can do in archaeology, and what types of tasks you would perform. Next, it goes into trends in archaeology. Here, it talks about some of the fake news out there about finds that supposedly contradict the bible vs. verified finds that corroborate the historical truths in the Bible. Each of the speakers in the video discusses what brought them to their current level of faith, whether it was that they started out not believing, but archaeology brought them to place of belief, or those that always believed and had their beliefs confirmed by all they learned in archaeology.
Then it moves onto “weird” discoveries in archaeology. These include things like the pyramids with discussions of how they were built, ziggurats and what their purpose may have been, an ancient “analog computer” known as the Antikythera Mechanism, and the giant stone heads found on Easter Island. Then it goes into discoveries that were found accidentally. These include the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Xian Terracotta Army, or Venus de Milo. From teenagers exploring a cave to a farmer finding something unusual in his barn, each of these discoveries were found by ordinary people, not professional archaeologists.
Finally, the series wraps up in the final episode with some of the sites that have yet to be excavated, including the cities of Bethlehem and Colossae. The locations are known but have yet to be explored. Who knows what historical treasures may be found there? If you were ever going to be motivated to explore the field of archaeology, this might just be the inspiration you need to take that next step!
This course was truly an adventure! I got to explore so many fascinating places and hear right from the archaeologist himself what it was like to find these great discoveries first-hand. From the ancient pool of Siloam to the tomb of Jesus, the Bible came to life in a new way for me in these episodes. I learned so much about how the discoveries of coins, pottery, documents, and inscriptions help to corroborate the ancient leaders, events, and places to the truly historical record we have in the scriptures. I love that I get lifetime access to this course, because I can definitely see myself watching this series again in the future! My husband enjoys historical documentaries, as well, so I think he would enjoy watching this, as well. It’s definitely worth your time, and I would encourage you to take a look!
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