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Religious Freedom Is the Soul of American Security
Christopher J. MotzIn the quiet sanctuary of West Point’s Old Cadet Chapel, a striking mural crowns the apse above the altar. Painted by Robert Weir and titled Peace and War, it…
What Does โPostliberalismโ Mean?
Secularism, Security, and โCivilizational Erasureโ
In Praise of Translation
January 2026
Print Edition
Americaโs Most Influential Journal of Religion and Public Life
Tucker and the Right
Glenn C. LouryDark Phantoms
Mark BauerleinIt happened quickly, so quickly that youโd think it was impossible to retain the image. The Ohio…
Work Is for the Worker
Ricky McRoskeyIn these early days of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has made one thing clear: The responsible…
Just Stop It
Liel LeibovitzEarlier this summer, Egyptโs Ministry of Religious Endowments launched a new campaign. It is entitled โCorrect Your…
Goddity
Ephraim RadnerThe Nativity of our Lordโborn an infant, laid in a manger. Itโs an utterly strange story: The…
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Heritage and the Right
Conversations
Restoring Breadth and Depth to Education (ft. Solveig Gold)
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The Sabbath is Back! (ft. J. J. Kimche)
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Wassailing at Christmas
Francis YoungReligious Freedom Is the Soul of American Security
Christopher J. MotzIn the quiet sanctuary of West Point’s Old Cadet Chapel, a striking mural crowns the apse above…
Our Year in Booksโ2025
VariousFirst Things editors and writers share the most memorable books they read this year.
The Fertility Crisis Will Not Be Solved by Economics Alone
John M. GrondelskiThe Westโs demographic dearth is capturing the attention of growing numbers of public officials. Speaking on October…
Secularism, Security, and โCivilizational Erasureโ
George WeigelTwenty years ago, I published a small book, The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics…
Caravaggio and Us
Jaspreet Singh BoparaiNicolas Poussin, the greatest French artist of the seventeenth century, once said that Caravaggio had come into…
In Praise of Translation
Erik VardenThe circumstances of my life have been such that I have moved, since adolescence, in a ยญborderland…
The Problem with the Evangelical Elite
Aaron M. RennThe problem with the evangelical elite is that there isnโt one. All too few evangelical Christians hold…
Make Me A Lutheran
Richard RexJohn Fisher, the renowned Bishop of Rochester, is known to history chiefly for having been put to…
Hegemon orย Empire?
Nathan PinkoskiWas the First Gulf War a mistake? The historยญian Paul Schroeder thought the answer was “yes.” In…
Tunnel Vision
Philip JenkinsAlice Roberts is a familiar face in British media. A skilled archaeologist, she has for years hosted…
Canticle of All Creatures
Dana GioiaThis poem was written by St. Francis of Assisi, and translated by Dana Gioia. Most high, all…
Address Bookย
Paul WillisThe leather binding, torn and askew,is barely joined by brittle pieces of Scotch tape. ย And the names…
The Ruin
A. M. JusterRemorseless sun ย ย stunts the dew Glistening towers ย ย of tainted glassignite and blister ย …
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Every Tuesday, a sampling of the most popular First Things articles.
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Empathy is Not Charity
Patricia SnowMartin Scorseseโs recent film Silence, like the historical novel by Shลซsaku Endล on which it is based,…
The Sacred Heart of Victor Hugo
Algis ValiunasThe Temptation of the Impossible: Victor Hugo and Les Misรฉrables By Mario Vargas Llosa Princeton University Press,…
The Whole World Groans
Michael HanbySt. Jerome, angry over the protracted Arian crisis and the apparent victory of the โsemi-Ariansโ at the…
Christianity and Poetry
Dana GioiaI When I became a man, I put away childish things.โSt. Paul, 1 Corinthians 13 Most Christians…
My Madness
Algis ValiunasMy brother Peter was a wondrous boy, the youngest, brightest, and bounciest of three kids: IQ 165,…
Shakespeare, Four Centuries On
Alexi SargeantThis Saturday, April 23rd, marks an important anniversary: four hundred years since the death of William Shakespeare.…
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