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St. Ann
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Perhaps someone here can suggest a dvd (series) on the history of the Church that is appropriate for the entire family. In our case 9 years and older. We celebrate 3 Name Days in the summer, so I thought of a gift for the entire family ...
I am also considering purchasing Prof. Carol's Discovering Music, but am delaying because I am also very interested in her upcoming course on Sacred Music.
Please, please give me any and all advice, recommendations and don't forget to mention which resources to avoid...
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Stephanie
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JennGM
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I haven't watched all the series, but have you seen Father Barron's Catholicism series? That's where I would lean....
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JennGM
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Oh, and I can't wait to see what Prof. Carol has for sacred music!
She was at IHM National, but I didn't have time to stop and look.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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StephanieA
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We have seen the entire Barron series, and it is good. However, I wasn't excited enough about it to purchase it.
It is "history-light". Usually I will purchase something if I think we will at least watch the DVD more than once.
I have also seen Discovering Music. It is wonderful, but it is not a Church history course. It is music history, concentrating on certain time periods of history. Much of it is filmed on location. I am also very interested in the Sacred Music. It should be more Catholic, if that what you are seeking.
Here are some Catholic history DVDs that we have purchased. Our kids range from ages 25-3. The children 10 and under don't necessarily follow the history, but the rest of us find these DVDs interesting enough to watch several times. There are only a few errors in these DVDs...one on infallibility. But we researched the facts and they were ever so slightly misunderstood. (This happened very early on in the church during the onslaught of the Pelegius and Arian heresies).
1. Any of the Footprints of God series from Ignatius Press
2. Popes and the Papacy: A History - Teaching Company
3. Late Antiquity: Crisis and Transformation - Teaching Company
4. The Foundations of Western Civilization - Teaching Company
5. The Catholic Church - The Teaching Company
6. The Early Christians - Ignatius Press
While the Teaching Company DVDS are not from a Catholic Company - I found them every bit as solid as Fr. Barron for the most part and much more meaty. The Early Christians probably would appeal to the youngest over the Teaching Company Tapes. However, I think Dr. Noble is quite good and Dr. Cook is also animated in his own way.
Blessings,
Stephanie
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JennGM
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That is interesting, Stephanie.
We bought Father Barron's series for my MIL, and she just loved it. She said she learned more about her faith and she just loved the images.
That is what is rich about Father's series, he has filmed on location to so many shrines and places of Catholic history, wonderful art -- it just is so rich with the imagery that it kept her captivated. Arm chair Catholic tourist.
It does deal probably more faith than history, but the history is so intertwined.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Servant2theKing
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We really enjoyed EPIC A Journey Through Church History. It was engaging enough to watch as a family and informative enough to use as a spine for yearlong study of Church History. We also own the Catholicism series Jenn mentioned and found it equally appealing for the entire family, though its emphasis is more on the Faith in its entirety. The Catholicism series seems to be directed toward an adult audience, though we certainly found it suitable for teens (we don't have experience with younger children watching, so I can't tell you for certain whether it would capture their attention). You might try looking at video clips on the two sites to see whether either would be right for your family. I can't remember for sure, but I think I may have found each set for less on ebay or amazon. HTH
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Mackfam
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I was going to mention this one as a possibility (even though I have only been looking at it - I haven't viewed it yet), and I'm very glad to hear your review of it, Servant! Thank you! It's on the top of my "maybe" list this year, but it's pricey!
There are two different programs, both done by Ascension Press (an extension of Jeff Cavins' site):
** Epic: A Journey Through Church History (which Servant linked)
** Epic: Epic: The Early Church
I'd love to hear more about the Epic series if anyone has any other reviews or thoughts to add!
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Mackfam
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St. Ann wrote:
| I am also considering purchasing Prof. Carol's Discovering Music, but am delaying because I am also very interested in her upcoming course on Sacred Music. |
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This is an excellent series, and would work well as family viewing! Prof. Carol is extremely engaging and knows her subject matter so well! We really liked that so much is filmed on location throughout Europe - it really helped us "connect" with the ideas! I highly recommend anything Prof. Carol does - and this series in particular!
You can use this set in a few different ways:- High school credit for music, music history (the set includes vocabulary, excellent timeline additions, quizzes, tests, etc., but we mostly just viewed, narrated and added significant people/events to our BOC)
- Family viewing and general enjoyment (it engaged my kids from 7 yo through high school/adult)
- Alongside a study of the history of western culture- Prof. Carol is a wonderful classical educator and it really comes through in her explanations. She gives a fantastic view of the history of western culture in this series.
I, too, am anxiously awaiting her Sacred Music series!
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Jen Mackintosh
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MaryM
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Mackfam wrote:
I was going to mention this one as a possibility (even though I have only been looking at it - I haven't viewed it yet), and I'm very glad to hear your review of it, Servant! Thank you! It's on the top of my "maybe" list this year, but it's pricey!
There are two different programs, both done by Ascension Press (an extension of Jeff Cavins' site):
** Epic: A Journey Through Church History (which Servant linked)
** Epic: Epic: The Early Church
I'd love to hear more about the Epic series if anyone has any other reviews or thoughts to add! |
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My kids have just finished EPIC:A Journey Through Church History this year. They did it as a group study with their teen group. They met every other week and did one section. It is spendy and we are very fortunate that one of the families had purchased it already, so everyone got to take advantage. We also could have split the cost between the families.
Although we hosted here a couple times I have to say I didn't watch any episodes - I should have.  They both liked it and felt it was thorough. DD does say that it could be dry - they did not think he was s a very engaging of a presenter. But they learned a lot. There were times that what they covered was so timely - like the week after they had covered the section which included Pope Celestine V resigning, Pope Benedict made his announcement. They had already heard the historical context that everyone started talking about. They felt very well informed.
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Mary M. in Denver
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StephanieA
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Servant,I would love to hear more detail about the differences between "Catholicism" and "Epic". Could this be the gist of it: "Catholicism" is faith-based, but incorporating history while EPIC is more historically-based? So EPIC is geared for a broader audience than Catholicism?
Jenn, I did like Fr. Barron. A seminarian loaned the set to me to view. For some reason, I was expecting more historical detail, but the graphics were fabulous. If you don't have thousands of dollars for a trip to Europe, then this would be a great substitute.
But then too, it would be near impossible to put 2,000 years of Church history on DVD without skipping a lot of detail.
Blessings,
Stephanie
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StephanieA
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I just spoke on the phone to a deacon who volunteers at a prolife organization that also rents Catholic vidoes. They don't have EPIC (darn int), but he personally owns both DVD sets. His take:
"Catholicism" is a beautiful, picture-rich video on our faith. It is history-light and for general audiences, both Catholic and non-Catholic.
"Epic" is a history course on the Catholic Church. It is meant for Catholics as a both an education and an evangelization tool, so they will know the history of their Church. It is told from the Catholic Church's viewpoint and if it is lacking, it would be on the Protestant's viewpoint (ie, Luther's thoughts, etc.)
His thoughts are that Barron's DVDs are for viewing and "Epic" is for study. Not that Barron's videos can't produce rabbit trails. We all know that ANYTHING can produce a rabbit trail  . But these are his words.
Blessings,
Stephanie
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StephanieA
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Servant,
Did you purchase any of the ancillary materials for the EPIC set? Workbook, etc? Would you recommend them or is the DVD set sufficient?
Blessings,
Stephanie
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Servant2theKing
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Stephanie, its' difficult to compare Catholicism and EPIC. We own and used the study guide/ workbooks for both. I felt they enhanced our understanding and added depth to the subject matter covered in each series. The additional value they offer makes each a wonderful tool for the homeschool family to delve more deeply into the Faith and Church History!
We used the EPIC series first and found teacher and historian Steve Weidenkopf very thorough and inspiring in his treatment of Church History. He developed EPIC: A Journey Through Church History with Dr. Alan Schreck. The leader's guide states their intent in developing the program as being "to help Catholics learn their family story and answer common objections about the Church. Utilizing the same structure as The Great Adventure, Epic divides the two thousand years of Church history into twelve time periods. Central to the program is the Epic Timeline Chart, which illustrates each time period and identifies the main events in Church history, culture and politics, as well as the popes, martyrs, saints and doctors of the Church."
The EPIC workbook contains a synopsis of each section and Q&A portions entitled; Take a Deeper Look, Application, Wrap-up and Further Reading. Answers given in the Responses portion (in the 2nd half of the workbook) add a wealth of additional information!
The material in both the DVDs and the workbook are fraught with golden opportunities for wondrous rabbit trails! The series lends itself very well to creating your own timeline(s) to illustrate Church History. We used a very large presentation book to create a family timeline ~ my favorite portions are pages depicting the popes for each time period!
Just a few of our favorite websites from creating our own EPIC timeline ~ I'm sure there are more resources available on the web since we embarked on this great journey a few years ago:
Religious Art Collections
Vatican Library
Bibilcal Art (and religous) Art
A Timeline of Catholic Church History
scroll to bottom for List of Popes & Years Served
Papal Heraldry
While the Catholicism DVDs do focus primarily on the Faith, Church History is indeed threaded throughout ~ though I would say faith and Church teachings are definitely the primary focus. The Study Guide greatly enriches understanding of the rich content covered by Father Barron in the series. The Study Guide contains outlines, excerpts of inspired writings, Questions for Understanding (which reference the CCC), Questions for Application, Terms and Names (which lends greater historical reference), and Recommended Reading.
Workbook sections and DVDs cover:
Lesson 1: Amazed and Afraid ~ The Revelation of God Become Man
Lesson 2: Happy Are We ~ The Teachings of Jesus
Lesson 3: The Ineffable Mystery of God ~ That Than Which Nothing Greater Can Be Thought
Lesson 4: Our Tainted Nature's Solitary Boast ~ Mary, the Mother of God
Lesson 5: The Indispensable Men ~ Peter, Paul and the Missionary Adventure
Lesson 6: A Body Both Suffering & Glorious ~ The Mystical Union of Christ & the Church
Lesson 7: Word Made Flesh , True Bread From Heaven ~ The Mystery of the Liturgy & the Eucharist
Lesson 8: A Vast Company of Witnesses ~ The Communion of Saints
Lesson 9: The Fire of His Love ~ Prayer and the Life of the Spirit
Lesson 10: World Without End ~ The Last Things
I should add that we appreciated Catholicism so much we purchased the rest of Fr. Barron's DVD series, with available study guides, for our high schoolers and adult family members to delve more deeply into our beloved Faith:
Eucharist
Untold Blessing ~ Three Paths to Holiness
Conversion ~ Following the Call of Christ
Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues
(I'm writing this on the fly ~ hope this helps somewhat and that it's at least somewhat coherent!)
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StephanieA
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Thanks SO much, Servant. Lately, I find myself wanting to "sit back and let someone else lecture". So I am using DVDs much more than I ever would 15-20 years ago. So this info is so helpful. Thanks!
Blessings,
Stephanie
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Servant2theKing
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Which is exactly why we've used these and other DVDs! Our last three are all boys, some of whom absorb audio & visual like sponges! We haven't abandoned print resources by far, but good DVDs have definitely enriched our homeschool experience!
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Betsy
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What ages would you suggest for the Epic DVD's???
Thanks!
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Servant2theKing
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We used it with 13-18 year olds.
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St. Ann
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You have all given such great information!
Keep talking!!!!
One question. Would you classify "Epic" as a documentary as in PBS/BBC productions or something dramatic with emotion stirring music throughout? I ask the same for the "Catholocism" production.
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Stephanie
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Servant2theKing
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Epic would be considered more documentary ~ Catholicism a mix of documentary, with stirring images and music.
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Topic: Catholic History DVD
