Still Waking Up

by Samuel D. James

If in truth we find human dignity, then the reverse is also true: Where truth is cast aside, so also is human dignity. Continue Reading »

17 Feb 2017 0

What We've Been Reading—2.17.17

by Editors

Mark Bauerlein: Reading the 1991 novel A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin (a contributor to this month's magazine) is like going back to the great works of the 19th century. Like Sir Walter Scott's historical novels, it takes place amidst events events that changed the course of human affairs, in this case, World War I, but remains vividly focused on one character's fate. Continue Reading »

17 Feb 2017 0

​Love Among the Artifacts

by Matthew Hennessey

This business of signing the inside covers of books is both charming and macabre. People die; books live forever. Scrawling on a flyleaf is a down payment on immortality. Think of me, it says. Memento mori. Continue Reading »

17 Feb 2017 0

The Peace Treaty

by R. R. Reno

When we pledge our faithfulness to another on our wedding day, we’re mocking the changeableness of life, saying that we trust in the covenant of marriage to transcend the weakness of our flesh, the fickleness of our passions, and the fragility of our egos. Continue Reading »

14 Feb 2017 0

Saint Valentine, Martyr

by C. C. Pecknold

Whatever one thinks about the day that bears his name—so unjustly desacralized, in my opinion—it seems fitting that this day still retains a memory of a love which is hidden. Continue Reading »

14 Feb 2017 0

Life on the Line in Ireland

by The Editors

The First Things Podcast, Episode 23. Featuring: An Irish Senator argues against repeal of Ireland’s pro-life Eighth Amendment; and Rusty Reno reflects on recent headlines. Continue Reading »

14 Feb 2017 0

When the Radio Breaks

by Roy Peachey

In Gautreaux’s stories, signals demand knowledge, even wisdom, if they are to be understood. Continue Reading »

9 Feb 2017 0

Pop-Consolation

by Matthew Schmitz

“Sometimes moms and dads fall out of love/ Sometimes two homes are better than one” Continue Reading »

8 Feb 2017 0

The Church of God in Christ Responds to Catholic Scholars

by Charles E. Blake

I was honored that such a distinguished collection of Catholic intellectuals would stand in unity with their black brothers and sisters in defense of life, family, and justice for the poor. Continue Reading »

8 Feb 2017 0

Ask Not: On Gifts and Debts

by Dale M. Coulter

Kennedy at his inauguration and medieval theologians agree: humans owe their existence to something beyond themselves, and they should live in light of that debt. Continue Reading »

7 Feb 2017 0