Resisting Presentism

C . S. Lewis warned against the danger of presentism. It’s a distinctly modern vice. We are seduced by the conceit of “progress,” which induces a haughty disregard for the past. We suppose ourselves apostles of a bright, new future. But in truth we’re imprisoned in the preoccupations and propaganda of the present.

New media contribute mightily to presentism. We live in a time of hot takes. Websites rush to post commentary of the latest Trump nomination. Denizens of X and other social-media sites swirl in cyclones of denunciation and attack. Everything is keyed to what’s happening right now. The latest triumph. The latest outrage. The latest meme. 

Jesus urges us to be in the world but not of it. First Things seeks an in-the-world relevance. We want to provide readers with incisive analysis of present realities. In the last year, we published the definitive essay on the challenges facing the pro-life cause, “Pro-Life Politics After Dobbs.” Carl Trueman described today’s ascendant post-human mentality in “The Desecration of Man.” 

Being in the world requires honesty. First Things is unique among conservative publications. We are unsparing in our documentation of the disastrous consequences of the sexual revolution. Over the last decade, Mary Eberstadt has counted the cost. Last fall, Patricia Snow meditated on the larger significance of the bard of contemporary female experience, Taylor Swift. In our January issue, out today, you can read a haunting personal story of a gay man who renounced perversion—and was denounced for it.

First Things can speak with forthright clarity, because we are not of this world. Note well: To speak of sodomy as a perversion (to merely use the term “sodomy”) marks this publication as very much at odds with prevailing opinion. Moreover, we are neither thrilled nor outraged by Donald Trump. I cherish this equanimity. Trump’s remarkable political career and the intense passions he evokes invite reflection on the political, cultural, and spiritual realities of the early twenty-first century. For example, since 2016, we’ve been subjected to endless warnings that Trump and other populist politicians foretell the second coming of Hitler. In our pages, Alec Ryrie explains the historical origins of this mode of political denunciation—and why its time is passing. I consider “The End of the Age of Hitler” to be among the most powerful and perceptive essays published in this venerable magazine.

Deep knowledge of the past and gratitude for our cultural inheritance allow us to resist presentism. Instead of toppling statues, First Things seeks to learn from those who came before us. We do not pretend that the past is perfect. Rather, we know that it was made by men, who are capable of great evil and astounding nobility. A fool worships the past; a small-souled knave condemns it. “Greatness, wretchedness,” Pascal noted. “The more enlightened we are the more greatness and vileness we discover in man.” 

More important still is faith in God. To know that God superintends over the affairs of men is the surest inoculation against presentism. Choosing sides is often necessary. Readers will know that this publication has been critical of the Francis pontificate. It is sympathetic to the populist sentiments that elected Trump. It is hostile to the Rainbow Reich. I could go on, but my point is this: Yes, we are called to judge, speak, and act in the present, but this moment, as every moment, is part of a divinely orchestrated history, a drama that is not ours to fully fathom and understand.

In the mysterious providence of God, First Things remains a strong voice for men and women of faith who seek to contend for the future of the West—and to do so with spiritual freedom from the anxieties and panics born of presentism. But let us not presume upon God’s beneficence. 

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