R. R. Reno

Predictions are dicey business. Absent the gift of prophecy we can’t know the future. But we can speculate. Here’s what I see in the coming year. . . . Continue Reading »

Theology is the Queen of the Sciences. Sometimes that’s not obvious. But a recent posting by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick demonstrates that when it comes to coffee, theology provides profound metaphysical insights into that most necessary of refreshments.Brilliant exposition of the inner meaning . . . . Continue Reading »

Jews ought to back away from any alliance with Christians when it comes to the contraceptive mandate, argues Yishai Schwartz in Tablet. His main reason: Catholics and Evangelicals and legal advocates like the Becket Fund are undermining religious liberty, not promoting it. “Although . . . . Continue Reading »

ENDAWhen I was a grade-school student in Baltimore, young men with black skin were chased out of white neighborhoods with baseball bats. I went to an elementary school integrated barely a decade earlier. The folding chairs I set up in my middle school gym were still marked “George Washington . . . . Continue Reading »

As 2013 draws to a close I’d like to look back at the past year for First Things magazine. We published some winners, to be sure, but also some losers. And so, with Lot’s wife as a warning against dwelling on the past, here are some observations. . . . Continue Reading »

’Tis the season to be jolly. ’Tis also the season for me to ask for your financial support! Our mission is important. Our need is great. First Things magazine and firstthings.com are published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, a 503(c)(b) non-profit that depends on people like you for donations… . Continue Reading »

The mystery of Christmas begins with Abraham. It’s the story of love’s crazy concentration—God’s decision to get under our skin, as it were, by coming near and looking us in the eye… . Continue Reading »

’Tis the season to be jolly. ’Tis also the season for me to ask for your financial support! Our mission is important. Our need is great. First Things magazine and firstthings.com are published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, a 503(c)(b) non-profit that depends on people like you for donations… . Continue Reading »

Fr. Ed Oakes died this morning.  Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last spring, his friends knew that they’d have to face this day. Still, it’s hard. Death always is. Ed is best known for his work on Hans Urs von Balthasar. He wrote one of the first comprehensive studies published . . . . Continue Reading »

’Tis the season to be jolly. ’Tis also the season for me to ask for your financial support! Our mission is important. Our need is great. First Things magazine and firstthings.com are published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, a 503(c)(b) non-profit that depends on people like you for donations… . Continue Reading »