GodBlogs

The Advent Calendar is from the largest of the religious internet sites Beliefnet.com. It is a one-stop-shopping portal for religion and GodBlogs.

Hugh Hewitt links to several of the best GodBlogs: Adrian Warnock, Al Mohler, Better Living, Ethos, Evangelical Outpost, It Takes A Church, John Mark Reynolds, La Shawn Barber, Mark D. Roberts, Normal Rockstar, Rhett Smith, Roman Catholic Blog, Stand to Reason, Stones Cry Out, Summa Aesthetica, The Anchoress.

Hugh is also the moderator at OneTrueGodBlog where he asks five excellent minds to ponder questions from a layman that would be of interest to the general public.

Hewitt is host of a nationally syndicated radio show on 870AM in LA and a Professor of Constitutional Law at Chapman University Law School. He is also the author of Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World and If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat.

The superior minds belong to:

Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Mohler has been recognized by Time and Christianity Today as a leader among American evangelicals.

John Mark Reynolds is the founder and director of the Torrey Honors Institute and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Biola University. Dr. Reynolds' books include Maker of Heaven and Earth: Three Views on the Creation and Evolution Debate.

Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, speaker and blogger. Since 1991 he has been the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California. Mark has written several books, including Dare to Be True and Jesus Revealed.

Amy Welborn is a freelance writer and the author of many books including The Catholic Woman's Book of Days and De-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of The Da Vinci Code.

Dr. David Allen White is professor of World Literature at the Naval Academy. His recorded seminars at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary help Catholics to make the right connection between their Faith and the world around them, and can be obtained via www.aquinastapes.com.

Here is a sample of the questions that Hugh asks:

Please recommend the five books you would have a Christian college student read who was interested in deepening his or her faith but who also had all the time constraints and background education of most college kids today.

And here is a sampling of the answers:

With almost unbelievable access to the works of the greatest minds of all times, more and more people watch reality TV or browse the internet than read books. The following recommendations, therefore, are for college students with the faith who do still love books.

1) Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, one of the best introductions to and defenses of the Christian faith ever written.

2) Thomas a Kempis's Imitation of Christ, a Christian classic.

3) Shakespeare's King Lear, the most astounding product of the mind of man. All the mystery of suffering, sacrifice and penance in an astounding tragedy. Everyone should read it regularly.

4) Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. The great Russian novelist presents the crisis of faith in the modern world. He unleashes serious and profound arguments against the Christian faith as well as the most sublime response. Plus, it's one of the best murder mysteries ever written.

5) St. Augustine's City of God tells what to do when the world around you is falling to pieces.

And a bonus pick:

6) Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, the greatest work of the 20th century.

How many of these classics have you read? How about your children? They would make excellent Christmas presents.

So here is my recommendation. Go to the Palos Verdes Library District web site, click on the Amazon.com button and spend to your heart's delight.

And visit the GodBlogs.