First Things

If you have never picked up a copy of "First Things" you need to do so today. There is simply nothing else even remotely like it. No amount of praise could be too lavish for this magazine.

"First Things" an interfaith religious magazine. Yes, I said religious, a word hovering on the brink of the suspect list lately. The magazine does lean to Catholic and Protestant issues, although I have read articles by Jewish writers as well.

In this month's issue (May 08) there are articles on whether or not Shakespeare was Catholic, the ethics of immigration, a very interesting article on marriage, and a warm and personal reflection on William F Buckley. Also a comparison between hard-core atheists like Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx, and the new, soft-core atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens, who call God evil, even though "in order to make such value judgements one must assume, as the hard-core atheists are honest enough to acknowledge, that there exists somewhere, in some mode of being, a realm of rightness that does not owe its existence completely to human invention, Darwinian selection, or social construction (p 75).

You need it to keep abreast of the gossip about the breakup of your favorite mainline denomination and the outrages of liturgical dumb bunnies! To cleanse your mind after an hour spent watching the bilge that television producers call entertainment! To keep your sanity as western civilization collapses!

You need it as a gift to a student leaving to be brainwashed in one of our universities.

You need it as the perfect gift for those atheist friends of yours who claim all believers are barely sentient.

And, of course, it is an obviously necessary gift to yourself.

The journal "First Things" fills an important niche in the intellectual landscape of the ever-changing marketplace of ideas. It is, as its description states "the journal of religion, culture, and public life." In my humble opinion the definite article in the description is well deserved since "First Things" has positioned itself as the definitive journal on those three subjects and especially on their intersection and interplay. The ordering of the importance those three subjects from the description also reflects more or less accurately how prominently they are covered in the pages of the "First Things." The journal has gained considerable reputation for its unapologetic stance on the role of religion in public life, especially when it comes to politics. This is one of the thorniest issues that is often misunderstood: religion, just like any other ethical system, can and should inform those decisions that are relevant for the common good.

The editor-in-chief of the magazine is father Richard John Neuhaus. He is a public intellectual par excellence and someone whose opinion and knowledge I admire a great deal. His mega-column/article "The Public Square" is a regular feature in every issue of the "First Things."

Besides "The Public Square" each issue of "First Things" has several lengthy in-depth articles, a few shorter opinion pieces, book reviews, correspondence and poems. Over the years contributors to the "First Things" have included Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), Avery Cardinal Dulles, Christoph Schönborn, George Weigel, Stephen Webb, R. R. Reno, Timothy George, Stephen Barr, Joseph Bottum, Michael Novak, and many, many others.

All past issues of "First Things" (older than two months) can be found on the journal's website () and I would strongly urge anyone who is interested in finding out more about this wonderful publication to visit the website. In addition, the website features a daily blog article that cannot be found in the journal itself.

Buy First Things Now

First Things is a thoughtful magazine with articles that will still be worth reading ten years from now. Like Atlantic Monthly, Touchstone, New Yorker, or Foreign Policy, First Things is filled with ideas that are analytical and thoughtful. Unlike all of those aforementioned publications, the viewpoints found in First Things are decidedly Catholic, and the focus of the magazine is on social or religious issues.

I have been a subscriber to First Things for fifteen years now, and an admirer of Richard John Neuhaus, the editor (died in 2009), an intellectual tour-de-force. Since the death of Neuhaus, the publication has taken on a distinctively different look; for example, the front cover, which used to feature the contents as a teaser to what might be found within the magazine, now displays a black and white line drawing, symbolic of some topic covered inside. The new editor of the magazine, Joseph Bottum, has improved the magazine by making it more visually appealing.

First Things: Within the spectrum of Catholic and Jewish thought, it contains wide-ranging articles and reports on how religion and society interact. It's definitely a publication worth reading, especially for an evangelical such as I.

W.T. (Ted) Hinds

Read Best Reviews of First Things Here

I never know what to expect from an issue of First Things, only that the content will delight, surprise, and satisfy me. The latest issue, for instance, carried three intriguing headlines on the cover "Cicero is a Superstar" "Pete Seeger is a Communist" and "Mitch Albom is an Idiot." Wonderful! I didn't know where to begin!

This magazine is a right of center look at the interaction of Religion and Culture from a generally Catholic point of view. Being Catholic, the "right of center" can often be very different than the main stream right of center perspective portrayed in the popular media. The positions are more thoughtful, and on issues such as immigration, you can feel the concern for both the immigrant and the native in their writing.

The book reviews are always worth reading, even if you never intend to pick up the books discussed. They get some powerhouse names to write some of the reviews, and this being a more serious magazine than some of these writers usually show up in, you can see their mind at a stronger task than you usually do. I'm thinking particullarly of a few National Review writers who I wish would write in the NR at the same level of seriousness they approach writing in FT.

***Compared to when Neuhas ran the show?***

How does this magazine stack up to what it used to be, in Neuhaus' capable hands? It is being passed, like all good traditions, to the new generation (which, truth be told, is mostly the old generation, minus Newhaus).

The articles are just as good. The letters to the editor are still the strongest of any magazine I read. The book reviews are as compelling. Joseph Bottum is still trying to figure out how to make The Public Square his own, but he has some very impressive shoes to fillit'll take some time to get there, but I have no doubt he'll find a way to honor the past while moving forward in his own way.

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First Things magazine is a valuable guide to faith, culture & world events. It represents eccumanism of CS Lewis' "Mere Christianity" veriety, not of the lowest common denominator.

If you want to know what commited & intelligent believers are thinking & talking about, look no further!

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