R.R. Reno is editor of First Things.

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Antinomian Redemption

I’ve been working on a book off and on for the last year or so. The working title is Renewing the Conservative Imagination . My thesis is that our age is defined by an antinomian conviction. If we will but be free from moral norms, then we will be happy. Put differently, our age is Bohemian. . . . . Continue Reading »

3 Jan 2011

The Next Iranian Revolution?

Iran, it seems, is experiencing a textbook case of conflict between the aggressive and absorptive power of the secular state and religious authority. In today’s Financial Times , Najmeh Bozorgmehr reports that Iran’s highest ranking cleric is getting sideways with the officially Islamic . . . . Continue Reading »

30 Dec 2010

Still More on Bible Reading

First Things attracts smart readers. The discussion of how we should present and read the bible in worship has been very interesting, bringing out some interesting differences. For example: chanting scripture vs. studied efforts to read the bible with nuanced emphasis. While a graduate student in . . . . Continue Reading »

29 Dec 2010

More on Bible Reading

Yesterday I argued for a hefty Bible at the lectern . Weighty truths, its seems to me, are fittingly stored in weighty tomes. That doesn’t mean that I’m opposed to pocket Bibles or bible verses that you can call up on your cell phone—or for that matter to any form of scripture. . . . . Continue Reading »

28 Dec 2010

Reading the Bible

New York is digging out from a big snowstorm, which means a quiet day at the office, allowing me to catch up on some of my reading, including Verbum Domini , the Apostolic Exhortation concerning scripture and interpretation put out by Pope Benedict last fall. There’s lots of rich material . . . . Continue Reading »

27 Dec 2010

Shame On Columbia University Press

Talk about cynical marketing! Columbia University Press has put out a slender book that represents itself as authored by Richard Rorty. The title suggests a topic of importance— Ethics for Today: Finding Common Ground Between Philosophy and Religion . But when you open the book (hopefully . . . . Continue Reading »

22 Dec 2010

Liberalism and Irritable Mental Gestures

I’ve been rereading Lionel Trilling lately. I’ve long been a fan of his unique ability to write a meandering essay that nonetheless feels as though it has a singular focus. In any event, a recent editorial by Matt Franck in the Washington Post made me think of Trilling. Franck surveys . . . . Continue Reading »

21 Dec 2010

Still More on Orsi

Those interested in a forceful and substantive response to Robert Orsi’s denunciations of the depravities of the Catholics Church—insufficient solicitude for “reproductive choice,” for example—should click over to read what Notre Dame professor Daniel Philpot has to say . . . . Continue Reading »

9 Dec 2010

An Aphorism

The opposite of piety is not unbelief; it is sovereign desire. . . . . Continue Reading »

8 Dec 2010

More on Robert Orsi’s Anti-Catholicism

Last week I drew attention to the way in which Robert Orsi, the Grace Craddock Nagle Chair in Catholic Studies at Northwestern University, slammed the Catholic Church in an online tirade . I’m someone who respects (and respectfully disagrees) with a great deal of loyal Catholic dissent. Yes, . . . . Continue Reading »

7 Dec 2010