J. David Nolan

At almost every event we hold in the office of First Things, I end up speaking with a college student who expresses a deep gratitude for this magazine. I can relate.Throughout my undergraduate years, First Things provided a vantage point from which to understand the intellectual trends and fads that . . . . Continue Reading »

Imagine receiving a letter telling you that while your insurance company won’t pay for experimental drugs to combat your cancer, they’d be happy to cover lethal drugs to help you die. You want to try to live a little longer, but you're only offered funding to hasten death. This happened to . . . . Continue Reading »

A list of the top 10 most-read articles on firstthings.com in 2014. Continue Reading »

Good news from the U.K. today, as the House of Commons voiced strong opposition to the notion that the sex of a child should ever be considered relevant to the legality of an abortion. Continue Reading »

“Twenty-five years ago we had an ideological battle over the tradition, but professors learned that no skirmishes had to happen, only an expansion of the domain.” Continue Reading »

The Wethersfield Institute is sponsoring a lecture series by Fr. Joseph Koterski, SJ, professor of philosophy at Fordham, on St. Thomas More, Erasmus, and St. John Fisher.  Continue Reading »

In over two decades of friendship, Richard John Neuhaus and Wolfhart Pannenberg conspired together to bring religion back to the forefront of the public square. Their correspondence speaks of many things—the joys of intellectual conversation, the driving, dogged hope for ecumenical unity, and the intimacy of genuine friendship. Some letters focus on the mundane—logistics and inquiries about health—others rise to questions of the divine, and still others slide fluently from the mundane to the divine and back again. This ease of conversation is rare, and both Neuhaus and Pannenberg knew it. Their friendship was a private manifestation of their public commitments, and their public collaboration spoke of their deep friendship. Continue Reading »

Last night, when Roger Federer broke Gael Monfils in the third game in the fourth set in their quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open, he let out his now characteristic “come on”—no over the top combustion here, but a controlled burn, just hot enough to last for hours without exhausting itself. Fans have come to take his reserved passion for granted, but the fact that Federer always seems in control should surprise more and more as time goes on, not less and less. And last night, the superiority of his mental composure was on full display. Continue Reading »

For readers in New York City: On September 4th, Touro Law Center is hosting a lecture by Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik titled “Jews, Christians, and the Hobby Lobby Decision.” Continue Reading »

Why I Gave Up Alcohol
D. L. Mayfield, Christianity Today

Hitler’s ‘Mighty Miscalculation’
Malise Ruthven, The New York Review of Books

Science Confirms: Yup, This Book Really Is Bound in Human Skin
Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic

Meet Mosi Secret, The Times’ New Sin and Vice Reporter
Matthew Kassel, New York Observer

Conservatives & Higher Ed
Steven F. Hayward, The New Criterion