First Things

04/01/2022

What a Tangled Web | Carl R. Trueman

The spirit of Peter Singer haunts recent Maryland abortion legislation.

The West no longer has any consensus on what it means to be a woman or even a person.

04/01/2022

The Power of Pain | Peter J. Leithart

Peter J. Leithart reflects on the work of Byung-Chul Han.

Humans have always avoided painful conditions, but today our instinct to recoil has been institutionalized. 

04/01/2022

The Screen and the Book | Marc Barnes

If you want to destroy a child’s love for learning, get rid of books. Serve him Plato from a PDF and E. B. White from an e-reader. From the archives:

Books are solid. This is at once a physical description and a metaphysical one, and it is on this . . . .

03/31/2022

What a Tangled Web | Carl R. Trueman

We no longer have a shared moral vision, and hence we default to the experts, abdicating our responsibility to their technical expertise.

The West no longer has any consensus on what it means to be a woman or even a person.

03/31/2022

From Anglican to Catholic | Michael Nazir-Ali

Michael Nazir-Ali, a former Anglican bishop, details what lead him across the Tiber. From the print edition:

On September 29 last year, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, I was received into the . . . .

03/31/2022

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03/31/2022

The View from Vienna | Ari Berman

As Abdulrazak Gurnah writes in the novel After Lives, “If we don’t look after each other, who will look after us?”

When we saw Ukrainians forced to pack their bags and flee their country, we knew it was time to pack our own bags and go where we were needed.

03/31/2022

J. J. Kimche on Meir Kahane | R. R. Reno

J. J. Kimche joins R. R. Reno to discuss the life and thought of Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League.

J. J. Kimche joins the podcast to discuss what lessons can be learned from the life and work of a highly divisive Jewish extremist.

03/31/2022

National Unity in Ukraine | Jakub Grygiel

One explanation for the Russian military’s poor performance is that it attacked Ukraine with the wrong assumption.

The “liberal, rules-based world order” will not defend a country’s land—a self-confident nation that is attached to a particular location, tradition, and religion will.

03/31/2022

True Christian Courage | Mark Bauerlein

Casey Chalk joins Mark on the podcast to talk about his new book on Christians in the Islamic world.

Casey Chalk joins the podcast to discuss his book, The Persecuted: True Stories of Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands. 

03/31/2022

No “Just Wars”? | George Weigel

The Vatican’s primary role in world politics is that of moral witness.

It is simply not the case that serious Christians can no longer use the categories of “just” and “unjust” in thinking about warfare.

03/31/2022

What a Tangled Web | Carl R. Trueman

Confusion over what it means to be human continues to dog public life in the West, as is evident in the Maryland abortion debate.

The West no longer has any consensus on what it means to be a woman or even a person.

03/31/2022

The Problem with the Culture Problem | Oren Cass

Genuine conservatism seeks to maintain social conditions that encourage the good decisions that help communities thrive. From the archives:

Shorthand is convenient, but sometimes it confuses. In the game of telephone, by which ideas evolve . . . .

03/30/2022

No “Just Wars”? | George Weigel

The defense of national sovereignty was recognized as morally legitimate by the Second Vatican Council.

It is simply not the case that serious Christians can no longer use the categories of “just” and “unjust” in thinking about warfare.

03/30/2022

A Theology of Fiction | Cassandra Nelson

What is it that art seeks to give? For Sr. Mariella, the answer is salvation. From the print edition:

A spirited debate has been going on for nearly a decade now, much of it in these pages, about . . . .

03/30/2022

J. J. Kimche on Meir Kahane | R. R. Reno

R. R. Reno is joined by J. J. Kimche to talk about his article from the April print edition, “The Rage of Meir Kahane.”

J. J. Kimche joins the podcast to discuss what lessons can be learned from the life and work of a highly divisive Jewish extremist.

03/30/2022

True Christian Courage | Mark Bauerlein

Casey Chalk joins the podcast to discuss his book, “The Persecuted: True Stories of Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands.”

Casey Chalk joins the podcast to discuss his book, The Persecuted: True Stories of Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands. 

03/30/2022

The View from Vienna | Ari Berman

By seeing the divine in the faces of refugees, we partner with God in the work of salvation.

When we saw Ukrainians forced to pack their bags and flee their country, we knew it was time to pack our own bags and go where we were needed.

03/30/2022

What's Wrong With America and How the Faithful Can Fix It

Join us next month in Kansas City for a lecture from our editor.

First Things Lecture in Kansas City, MO

03/30/2022

National Unity in Ukraine | Jakub Grygiel

Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian offensive is a tragic reminder that a self-confident nation is the best defense against an aggressive enemy.

The “liberal, rules-based world order” will not defend a country’s land—a self-confident nation that is attached to a particular location, tradition, and religion will.

03/30/2022

No “Just Wars”? | George Weigel

Putin’s war is manifestly an unjust war: immoral in intent and immoral in execution.

It is simply not the case that serious Christians can no longer use the categories of “just” and “unjust” in thinking about warfare.

03/30/2022

The Theology of Foreign Policy | Michael Doran

For the better part of a century, the descendants of H. L. Mencken have dominated our cultural life. From the archives:

On matters of foreign policy, Americans are divided into two hidden camps. Not Republicans versus . . . .

03/29/2022

National Unity in Ukraine | Jakub Grygiel

A nation’s ability to defend itself depends first and foremost on its unity and its willingness to sacrifice.

The “liberal, rules-based world order” will not defend a country’s land—a self-confident nation that is attached to a particular location, tradition, and religion will.

03/29/2022

The End of Christendom? | R. R. Reno

R. R. Reno reviews “The Worst Person in the World.” From the print edition:

New York police officer Wilbert Mora was buried February 2. He was gunned down in a Harlem apartment . . . .

03/29/2022

Islam Made Me Christian | Alessandra Bocchi

There is not much left to save in Western society; our task now must be to recover what has been lost. From the archives:

I grew up in northern Italy, in a Catholic household. For us, as for many Italian families, . . . .

03/29/2022

What's Wrong With America and How the Faithful Can Fix It

Join us next month in Kansas City for a lecture from our editor.

First Things Lecture in Kansas City, MO

03/29/2022

The Decline of the American Election | Mark Bauerlein

Have you listened to the latest episode of Mark’s pidcast yet?

Hans von Spakovsky joins the podcast to discuss his book, Our Broken Elections: How the Left Changed the Way You Vote.

03/29/2022

A Not-So-Secular Age | John Wilson

John Wilson reviews “Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity Is Taking Over the World.”

 I don’t know for sure what the future, even the “near future,” holds, but I do know that—for the moment, at least—we do not remotely live in a “secular age.”

03/29/2022

Michael Nazir–Ali on Becoming Catholic | R. R. Reno

Have you listened to the latest episode of the Editor’s Desk yet?

Fr. Michael Nazir–Ali joins the podcast to discuss his conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism.

03/29/2022

The View from Vienna | Ari Berman

There is an expression in the Talmud: “Do not rely upon a miracle.” Our job is to create small miracles for others.

When we saw Ukrainians forced to pack their bags and flee their country, we knew it was time to pack our own bags and go where we were needed.

03/29/2022

National Unity in Ukraine | Jakub Grygiel

The ultimate test of a nation is whether it can pull together in moments of hostile pressure and aggression.

The “liberal, rules-based world order” will not defend a country’s land—a self-confident nation that is attached to a particular location, tradition, and religion will.

03/29/2022

For and Against Integralism | Michael Hanby

Integralism rightly conceived is neither a stratagem of power nor a strategy of self-preservation, but the recovery of a mystical vision. From the archives:

Modernity does not just refer to the time in which we happen to live, the era that follows the . . . .

03/28/2022

The View from Vienna | Ari Berman

God and human beings work together to bring redemption. It is not upon us to finish the work, but neither are we free from our responsibility to try.

When we saw Ukrainians forced to pack their bags and flee their country, we knew it was time to pack our own bags and go where we were needed.

03/28/2022

Mirrors of Perfection | Ephraim Radner

Children are necessary if we are to know God, and are therefore integral to our salvation, body and soul. From the print edition:

Our society is confused about children. We allow their destruction in the womb and their manufacture . . . .

03/28/2022

Michael Nazir–Ali on Becoming Catholic | R. R. Reno

Fr. Michael Nazir–Ali joins the podcast to discuss his conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism.