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First Things

First Things

Magazine | United States | Right
www.firstthings.com/

Journal of religion and public life featuring leading scholars on faith, culture, and public policy.

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Articles

Discussions from First Things

Culture

Paul Celan’s Via Negativa

In the twentieth century the messengers shot themselves. Most did so metaphorically, of course, though a few machos—­Ernest Hemingway and ­Hunter S. Thompson come to mind—did literally blow their. The post Paul Celan’s Via Negativa appeared first on First Things

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Culture

John Paul II and America

When he was elected bishop of Rome on October 16, 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła had a rather limited experience of the Catholic Church in the United States. He had. The post John Paul II and America appeared first on First Things

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Politics

How Democrats Turned on Religious Freedom

Today’s Democratic Party rejects the central claim of the Declaration of Independence—that inalienable rights are given by God, not by government. Last year, Democratic senator Tim Kaine, outraged by. The post How Democrats Turned on Religious Freedom appeared first on First Things

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Culture

Cultural Christianity’s Ambivalence

The question of what to do with our Christian inheritance—what we call “cultural Christianity”—has become unavoidable. Cultural Christians wish to preserve the cultural, political, and intellectual traditions and institutions. The post Cultural Christianity’s Ambivalence appeared first on First Things

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Culture

The Throwaway Culture Advances

Life is no less beautiful when it is accompanied by illness or weakness, hunger or poverty, physical or mental diseases, loneliness or old age.” These inspiring words were written. The post The Throwaway Culture Advances appeared first on First Things

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Culture

Postliberalism and Its Discontents (ft. James Wood)

In this episode, James R. Wood joins R. R. Reno on The Editor’s Desk to talk about his recent essay, “Liberalism Is Christianity’s Prodigal Child” from the June/July 2026. The post Postliberalism and Its Discontents (ft. James Wood) appeared first on First Things

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Culture

The Michael Connelly Literary Universe

If you are a longtime reader of this column, you know of my frustration with the routine disdain expressed in certain quarters for “series fiction.” Of course sometimes such. The post The Michael Connelly Literary Universe appeared first on First Things

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Culture

In Magnifica Humanitas, Leo Defends the Human Person

“What is man that thou art mindful of him?”—Psalm 8:4 Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, is already being described as the Catholic Church’s great intervention into the. The post In Magnifica Humanitas, Leo Defends the Human Person appeared first on First Things

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Politics

Will Hungary Be a Christian Nation After Orbán?

A little over a year ago, I arrived in Budapest for a ten-month stay as a senior fellow at one of Hungary’s academic institutions. My task was to teach. The post Will Hungary Be a Christian Nation After Orbán? appeared first on First Things

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Education

Can Yale Lead Reform?

In early April, Yale University released the “­Report of the Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education.” The faculty committee had been formed a year earlier, charged with the. The post Can Yale Lead Reform? appeared first on First Things

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Culture

C. S. Lewis’s Philosophy of Gender

Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve:C. S. Lewis’s Images of Genderby joshua phillip herring234 pages, davenant Press, $31.95 When Lucy steps through the wardrobe into Narnia and runs into. The post C. S. Lewis’s Philosophy of Gender appeared first on First Things

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Technology

Magnifica Humanitas, a Missed Opportunity?

At nearly 43,000 words, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” is a sprawling effort to array the. The post Magnifica Humanitas, a Missed Opportunity? appeared first on First Things

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