R. R. Reno

I enjoyed a very pleasant though sadly short visit to my former hometown. It was mid-April. The weather was mild, and Aeolus welcomed me with soft breezes rather than the usual rough winds of the Great Plains. The redbud trees were radiantly abloom in the spring sunshine. I had coffee with old . . . . Continue Reading »

No theologian has exercised a greater influence on me than Karl Barth. I first encountered his work while I was a student at Haverford College. In those years, I was smitten with Carl Jung and Paul Tillich, who fed my growing interest in matters spiritual. But Barth did not traffic in the soft . . . . Continue Reading »

I recently met a medical student who was beginning her rotation in internal medicine. A special morning session had been set aside to discuss proper protocols for interacting with patients. The person leading the discussion came from the hospital’s office of diversity and inclusion. She emphasized . . . . Continue Reading »

Pandemic, lockdowns, shuttered churches, trillions spent, BLM protests turning violent, political rancor, hyper-partisan media, uproar after the election, a mob storming the Capitol: Strong tremors are shaking our ­society. If you’re like me, you’re feeling knocked off balance, and you’re . . . . Continue Reading »

Big Tech's power to define the limits of free speech is part of a larger trend, one that has shifted a great deal of political power away from elected representatives and into the hands of private actors. Continue Reading »

Populism is a threat to democracy.” “Trump is an authoritarian.” “Trump subverts constitutional norms.” Claims such as these puzzled me when I first heard them four years ago. Trump always struck me as a political freelancer and Twitter provocateur, not a potential dictator commanding . . . . Continue Reading »

As we seek to increase our resources for bringing you more videos, podcasts, and other digital content in 2021, please support our year-end fundraising campaign. Continue Reading »

First Things has a crucial role to play. We insist that God is Lord of history. This desacralizes politics—an urgent necessity. Continue Reading »

Western civilization exerts unprecedented influence. Science commands the intellectual loyalty of elites around the world. Western strands of Christianity have enjoyed extraordinary missionary success in Africa and Asia. Communism—a Western ideology—migrated to China, destroyed its . . . . Continue Reading »

There is nothing about being human that is alien to the consuming fire of God’s holiness.  Continue Reading »