First Things

First Things

Editor	R. R. Reno
Categories	Religion
Frequency	Monthly (10 issues/year)
First issue	March 1990
Company	Institute on Religion and Public Life
Country	United States
Based in	New York City
Language	English
Website	www.firstthings.com
ISSN	1047-5141

First Things (FT) is a journal aimed at "advanc[ing] a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society",^[1] focusing on theology, liturgy, history of religion, church history, culture, education, society, politics, literature, book reviews and poetry. First Things is inter-religious, inter-denominational and ecumenical, especially Christian and Jewish. It articulates Christian ecumenism, Christian–Jewish dialogue, erudite social and political conservatism and a critique of contemporary society.

First Things is published by the New York–based Institute on Religion and Public Life (IRPL) as a monthly, except for bi-monthly issues covering June/July and August/September,^[2] and has a circulation of approximately 30,000 copies. First Things' founding editor, from 1990 to his death in 2009, was Richard John Neuhaus. Since 2011 R. R. Reno has served as editor.

Ross Douthat wrote that, through First Things, Neuhaus demonstrated "that it was possible to be an intellectually fulfilled Christian".^[3] George Weigel, a long-time contributor and IRPL board member, wrote in Newsweek that, under the influence of Neuhaus First Things had "quickly became, under his leadership and inspiration, the most important vehicle for exploring the tangled web of religion and society in the English-speaking world."^[4]