As the year draws to a close, here’s a look back at our most popular articles. Our rankings are based on page views, and broken down between print articles and Web Exclusives. And everything is linked, in case you missed it or would like to revisit it.
Our top 25 print articles:
1. American Carnage, Christopher Caldwell
2. Dress Up, Bruce Boyer
3. Waiting for a Young Pope, Matthew Schmitz
4. Can the Religious Right Be Saved?, Russell D. Moore
5. The Death of Eros, Mark Regnerus
6. The Fantasy of Addiction, Peter Hitchens
7. The Devil and Hilary Mantel, Patricia Snow
8. Empathy Is Not Charity, Patricia Snow
9. Return to Form, Martin Mosebach
10. Pontifex Minimus, Paul Mankowski
11. Dying of Despair, Aaron Kheriaty
12. First Church of Intersectionality, Elizabeth C. Corey
13. Beware of Dog, Matthew Schmitz
14. Eros and Dorothy Day, Dan Hitchens
15. Moral Minority, Patrick Deneen
16. The Splendor of Truth in 2017, Charles J. Chaput
17. Our Secular Theodicy, Matthew Rose
18. The Myth of Scientific Objectivity, William Wilson
19. Politics After Liberalism, Phillip Blond
20. A Christian Strategy, Adrian Vermeule
21. Liturgy of Liberalism, Adrian Vermeule
22. In Praise of Borders, Peter Hitchens
23. Return of the Strong Gods, R. R. Reno
24. The Three Necessary Societies, Russell Hittinger
25. The Gospel According to David Bentley, Paul Mankowski
Our top 25 Web Exclusives:
1. An Open Letter to My Liberal Friends, Solveig Gold
2. Rabbi Objects to Pope Francis’s Anti-Jewish Rhetoric, Matthew Schmitz
3. Burying Benedict, Matthew Schmitz
4. Supreme Incoherence: Transgender Ideology and the Rule of Law, Jeffrey Shafer
5. A Map of the Soul, Michael Egnor
6. The War Against Cardinal Sarah, Marco Tosatti
7. The Case Against Cardinal Pell, Julia Yost
8. Civility and Church Life, Charles J. Chaput
9. How Vulgarity Normalizes Predators, Leah Libresco Sargeant
10. Rogue One and the Return of Reverence, Marc Barnes
11. Our Cultural Waterloo, Carl R. Trueman
12. It’s a Culture War, Stupid, George Weigel
13. The Good Soldier, Marco Tosatti
14. Is Pope Francis a Liberal Protestant? Gerald McDermott
15. The Real “Anti-Science,” Wesley J. Smith
16. The Persecution of Orthodoxy, Josef Seifert
17. Eugene Peterson’s Theological Sigh, Samuel D. James
18. Return of the Vocations Crisis, Marco Tosatti
19. Pro-Lifers, Get Out of Medicine, Wesley J. Smith
20. With Cardinal Sarah, the Liturgy Is in Good Hands, Benedict XVI
21. “I Just Want Her to be Happy,” Leonard Sax
22. Christianity Is for Cucks, Matthew Schmitz
23. Silence: Scorsese’s Spiritual Masterpiece, William J. Doino
24. Why We Shouldn’t Change the Lord’s Prayer, Anthony Esolen
25. The Most Dangerous Man in Christendom, Carl R. Trueman
Not bad, eh? And I’ll add a few of my own favorites: Waugh on the Merits, Paul Mankowski; Singing Aquinas in L.A., Dana Gioia; The Tragedy of the Republic, Pierre Manent; Struggle Against the Gods, Gao Zhisheng; The Omni-American Blues, David Bradley; and The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, R. R. Reno.
There’ll be more where that came from in the coming year—but only if we have the support of our readers. Put your money where your eyeballs are. Hit that donate button!
Julia Yost is senior editor of First Things.