First Things
@firstthingsmag
America’s most influential journal of religion & public life.
Our August/September issue is live! Read at: firstthings.com/issue/august-s…
Western Europe’s division between Catholic and Protestant, which seemed ineradicable, morphed in less than a century into a broad ecumenical consensus. | From the print issue. firstthings.com/ecumenical-fea…
Truth is a common good, which is to say a good that is enhanced rather than diminished by being shared. As teachers know, the “giving away” of truth tends to inspire an even deeper grasp than simply knowing it on one’s own. firstthings.com/math-is-erotic/
It would seem that the civil rights movement made a massive error in investing so much time, energy, and moral fervor in mandatory school busing—which lacked either a mass constituency or a plausible rationale. | From the archive. firstthings.com/the-bus-stops-…
It was Adam Michnik, defending nonviolent methods of anti-communist resistance, who neatly observed that “those who start by storming bastilles will end up building their own.” firstthings.com/the-perils-of-…
It seems unlikely that early modern people understood nature just as we do now, as a landscape full of plants who should be our respected and loving partners, with whom we are more or less equals. | From the print issue. firstthings.com/goodbye-saffro…
Church leaders should speak the truth and do so fearlessly. Part of this fearlessness means the courage to focus not merely on what the media decides is important. firstthings.com/islamists-and-…
Alan Dershowitz on how far the state may go to protect its citizens, on today's podcast: firstthings.com/how-to-prevent…
We have the capacity to predict and prevent acts of terror. But we will make mistakes. | Listen. firstthings.com/how-to-prevent…
Islamist terrorists surely watched the attention Holy Family garnered and how the incident was used to weaken an adversary, in this case bringing pressure to bear for accountability and renewing calls to stop arming Israel. firstthings.com/islamists-and-…
The idea of freedom that came to Poland in the High Middle Ages was William of Ockham’s notion of freedom as sheer willfulness, rather than Thomas Aquinas’s concept of freedom as tethered to truth. firstthings.com/the-perils-of-…
The College of Physicians was established in 1518. Henceforth, remedies became impressive, exotic, and rare instead of trusted, domestic, and practical. | From the print issue. firstthings.com/goodbye-saffro…
Pope Francis and Pope Leo Leo XIV may have different theological heroes—but their heroes need not be considered adversaries. firstthings.com/was-st-vincent…
The desert’s enormous power overwhelms all petty egotism, since no one could ever be so deluded as to think he could prevail against it alone. | From the archive. firstthings.com/the-deserts-au…
A very important read from Philos' Andrew Doran, published today in @firstthingsmag Islamists and the Tragedy of Holy Family Church firstthings.com/islamists-and-…