First Things
Conservative religious journal; founded 1990 by Richard John Neuhaus; currently edited by R.R. Reno; key venue for National Conservatism and Postliberalism
What It Is
First Things is the most important conservative religious journal in America. Founded in 1990 by the neoconservative Catholic priest Richard John Neuhaus, it originally occupied a sophisticated center-right position on religion and public life — engaging with serious theological and political questions from a broadly ecumenical perspective.
Under R.R. Reno’s editorship, it has moved decisively toward National Conservatism and postliberal ideas, becoming a major venue for the New Right’s religiously-inflected politics.
Significance in the New Right
First Things provides the New Right’s religious-intellectual infrastructure. Where the Claremont Institute provides the political philosophy framework (West Coast Straussianism, the founding), First Things provides the theological framework (natural law, Catholic social teaching, the “strong gods”).
Key New Right figures who have published in First Things include Sohrab Ahmari, Patrick Deneen, and many contributors to the National Conservatism and Postliberalism movements.
The Ahmari-French Debate
In 2019, First Things published Sohrab Ahmari’s essay “Against David French-ism,” attacking the libertarian-conservative approach to culture wars exemplified by National Review writer David French. Ahmari argued that the right should use state power to advance conservative cultural goals, not retreat behind appeals to neutral liberal procedure. This debate crystallized the postliberal turn and made First Things central to it.
Cross-References
- R.R. Reno — current editor
- National Conservatism — the movement First Things now primarily serves
- Postliberalism — related movement also represented in the journal
- Sohrab Ahmari — key contributor; “Against David French-ism”
- Patrick Deneen — key contributor