What's In The Bible - Review

The older children (ages 9-12) are just finishing up reading Genesis, and Exodus, and should be moving on into Leviticus this week, so I was quite happy to see Phil Vischer's What's In The Bible, Wanderin' in the Desert, in at the bookstore.


In case you're unfamiliar with the new series:

• Phil Vischer is the Veggie Tale guy.
  
• This is his new series, for kids, using puppets, animation, and live people.
  
• It begins at Genesis, and is supposed to ultimately make it to Revelation, explaining What's in The Bible.
  

The first two titles, In The Beginning, and Let My People Go!, cover Genesis and Exodus, and answer questions like, "What's in the Bible?", "Who wrote the Bible?", "Who chose the books of the Bible?", and "What is salvation?"

I picked them up for my younger children, but insisted my older children watch with us, at least once. At first, they were put off by the idea of puppets, but it wasn't long before they were drawn into Vischer's excitement. That excitement is one of my favorite aspects of the shows, too. It's great to have the children see another adult so fired up about the Word.

My 12 year old told me he thought it was the best Christian DVD series we'd viewed yet. Then, the highest praise came a few days later, when he asked when the next one was coming out.

The children like the easy to understand definitions of words like salvation, and redemption. They like the information about church history, and the use of time lines. They like the sweeping overview of the books. And, of course, they like all the silliness.

The third title, Wanderin' in the Dessert, which we watched this weekend, takes on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. As you might imagine, I think it's going to take us several viewings to fully absorb the content. But, Mr. Vischer does an excellent job of explaining the difference between ethical and ritual laws, and in defining holiness. There is also a fun musical finale, summarizing everything covered so far.

All in all, I believe it will prove a very helpful tool, as the children head into the last half of the Pentateuch. And, hopefully by the time they're ready to begin Joshua and Judges, the next installment will be in the bookstore, too.

It's great to be a homeschooler.