First Things

05/30/2026

Some of our latest published pieces:

Iben Thranholm on whether Hungary can remain a Christian nation after Orbán.

Robert A. Sirico on Pope Leo XIV’s defense of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.

John Wilson on the enduring appeal of Michael Connelly’s literary universe.

Available to read now at Firstthings.com. See links below.

Iben Thranholm - https://firstthings.com/will-hungary-be-a-christian-nation-after-orban/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=Dailypiece&utm_term=Hungary

Robert A. Sirico - https://firstthings.com/in-magnifica-humanitas-leo-defends-the-human-person/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=Dailypiece&utm_term=Leodefends

John Wilson - https://firstthings.com/the-michael-connelly-literary-universe/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=Dailypiece&utm_term=Michaelconnelly

05/29/2026

C. S. Lewis’s Philosophy of Gender
by Rachelle Peterson

In her review of Joshua Phillip Herring’s Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve, Rachelle Peterson considers what C. S. Lewis’s fiction reveals about masculinity, femininity, and gender.

“We are most ourselves when we are most in line with how God made us, including in our masculinity and femininity.”

Read in full at: https://firstthings.com/c-s-lewiss-philosophy-of-gender/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=Dailypiece&utm_term=Cslewis

05/29/2026

Can Yale Lead Reform?
R. R. Reno

“Knowledge can be possessed, deployed, and used. Truth commands, demands, and requires our service.”

Read it here

In early April, Yale University released the “­Report of the Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education.” The faculty committee had been formed a year earlier, charged with the...

05/29/2026

Postliberalism and Its Discontents
In the latest podcast episode, James R. Wood joins R. R. Reno on The Editor's Desk to talk about his recent essay, “Liberalism Is Christianity’s Prodigal Child” from the June/July 2026 issue of the magazine.

Listen here https://firstthings.com/postliberalism-and-its-discontents-ft-james-wood/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=Podcast&utm_term=Postliberalism

05/28/2026

From our latest publications:

George Weigel on peace, order, and the Catholic just war tradition.

Christopher J. Motz on scouting, formation, and the moral vision behind Baden-Powell’s movement.

Read now at First Things. Links found below

The Peace We Can Make: https://firstthings.com/the-peace-we-can-make/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=General&utm_term=PeaceFB

Scouts Honor: https://firstthings.com/scouts-honor-2/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=MonthlyIssue&utm_term=Scoutshonor

05/27/2026

Two pieces on Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas.

Ned Desmond contends that the document misses the central danger posed by artificial intelligence and its capacity for psychological and social manipulation.

Joshua P. Hochschild argues that the encyclical “refounds” Catholic social teaching as a primary mode of the Church’s engagement with the modern world.

Available now at First Things at https://firstthings.com/?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=General-Allposts

05/26/2026

A Boomer, But An Augustinian: On Magnifica Humanitas
by Jacob Phillips

Available to read at https://firstthings.com/a-boomer-but-an-augustinian-on-magnifica-humanitas/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=General&utm_term=Encyclical

05/26/2026

Some of our latest pieces:

Ryszard Legutko on same-sex marriage and European law.

Will Thibeau on commercial surrogacy and military families.

Read now on First Things at https://firstthings.com/?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=General-Allposts

05/25/2026

How the World Went Insane

In the latest installment of the ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein, J. Budziszewski joins in to discuss his recent book, Pandemic of Lunacy: How to Think Clearly When Everyone Around You Seems Crazy.

Listen here: https://firstthings.com/how-the-world-went-insane-ft-j-budziszewski/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=Podcast

05/22/2026

“When such a church is removed after its congregation has been displaced, something more than architecture disappears. A witness disappears.”

When a Cathedral Disappears
By Paul Murray, on the destruction of Armenian churches in Artsakh, and what disappears when a Christian people is driven from the places that once sustained its faith.

Available at https://firstthings.com/when-a-cathedral-disappears/?utm_source=Socials&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=General

05/22/2026

“Whenever and wherever the Spirit falls, bodies and souls are activated to construct the corporate body of Christ.”

Embodying Spirit
Peter J. Leithart on Pentecost, the embodied life of the Church, and the Spirit who forms believers into the body of Christ.

Full piece available at https://firstthings.com/embodying-spirit/?utm_source=Socials&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=General