Editing First Things (section)

==History==
{{Conservatism US|media}}
''First Things'' was founded in March 1990 by [[Richard John Neuhaus]], a [[Lutheran]] pastor turned [[Catholic]] priest, intellectual, writer, and activist. He started the journal, along with some long-time friends and collaborators, after he left the [[Rockford Institute]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/03/christian-unity-beginning-again-again-15 |title=FIRST THINGS: A Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2009-10-06 |archive-date=2010-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921084154/http://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/03/christian-unity-beginning-again-again-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1996, in response to the [[Colorado Supreme Court]]'s decision in ''[[Romer v. Evans]]'', which the magazine's leaders correctly predicted the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] would uphold on appeal, ''First Things'' published a symposium titled "The End of Democracy?", which denounced the ruling and included an essay by [[Charles Colson]] calling for a violent uprising against the United States government.<ref name="The Theocons">{{cite book |last1=Linker |first1=Damon |title=The Theocons |date=4 September 2007 |publisher=Anchor Books |pages=94–104 |isbn=9780307387653 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hVRvu0c5SRgC&q=the+theocons |access-date=9 October 2022}}</ref> The symposium was widely denounced by the mainstream press and more moderate conservatives including the magazine's own [[Midge Decter]], who screamed at Neuhaus in a telephone call, and [[David Brooks (commentator)|David Brooks]]. It led to the resignation of editorial board members [[Gertrude Himmelfarb]] and [[Walter Berns]].<ref name="The Theocons" />

Neuhaus, the journal's editor-in-chief until his death in January 2009, regularly wrote columns called "The Public Square" and "While We're At It". Three editors served under Neuhaus: James Nuechterlein, a Lutheran, from 1990 to 2004; [[Damon Linker]], who converted from [[Judaism]] to Catholicism, from 2004 to 2005, when he left over disagreements with Neuhaus (whom he later criticized heavily in his book ''The Theocons'');<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/cosmostheinlost/2015/05/06/just-another-atheist-jewish-catholic-an-interview-with-damon-linker/2/ |title=Just Another Atheist Jewish Catholic: An Interview With Damon Linker |first=Artur |last=Rosman |date=6 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/damon-linker-faith-journey/ |title=Damon Linker's Faith Journey |date=7 May 2015 }}</ref> and [[Joseph Bottum (author)|Joseph Bottum]], a Catholic, from 2005, upon returning from ''[[The Weekly Standard]]''.<ref>Neuhaus, [http://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/02/america-as-a-religion “While We're At It”] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328011351/http://www.firstthings.com/article/2009/02/america-as-a-religion |date=2014-03-28 }}, ''First Things,'' February 2009.</ref>

After his death, Neuhaus was succeeded by Bottum, who used the title "editor".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstthings.com/about.php?title_link=masthead |title=First Things - About Us: Masthead |date=27 May 2009 |work=archive.org |access-date=5 September 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527232425/http://www.firstthings.com/about.php?title_link=masthead |archive-date=27 May 2009}}</ref> Bottum served through October 2010, when he was forced out after a controversy about the future and the funding of the magazine, and Nuechterlein returned from retirement to become interim editor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/first-things-new-old-direction |title=First Things' New Old Direction |work=ncregister.com |date=11 February 2011 |access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstthings.com/masthead |title=About Us: Masthead - First Things |date=31 December 2010 |work=archive.org |access-date=5 September 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231204345/http://www.firstthings.com/masthead |archive-date=31 December 2010}}</ref>

In April 2011, [[R. R. Reno]], a professor of theology and ethics at [[Creighton University]], who had been involved with the magazine for over a decade and was a Catholic convert from the [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]], was selected as editor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://communio.stblogs.org/index.php/2011/02/reno-new-editor-of-first-thing/ |title=Reno new editor of First Things - Communio |work=stblogs.org |access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2011/01/trustworthy-guides |title=Trustworthy Guides - R. R. Reno |work=firstthings.com |date=20 January 2011 |access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2011/04/first-things |title=First Things? - R. R. Reno |work=firstthings.com |date=4 April 2011 |access-date=5 September 2016}}</ref>

After Neuhaus's death, [[David P. Goldman]], [[David Blum]], [[David Mills (editor)|David Mills]], Midge Decter (''ad interim''), [[Mark Bauerlein]], Matthew Schmitz, Julia Yost, and [[Dan Hitchens]] have served as executive or senior editors; the latter two are still in office.

In 2018, ''First Things'' published a review by the [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] priest Romanus Cessario of [[Vittorio Messori]]'s book ''Kidnapped by the Vatican? The Unpublished Memoirs of Edgardo Mortara''. The book covers the [[Mortara case|case of Edgardo Mortara]], a Jewish boy mistakenly baptized by Italian nuns and kidnapped by the [[Holy See|Vatican]] on the grounds that anyone baptized had to be raised Catholic. Cessario wrote that "Divine Providence kindly arranged for his being introduced into a regular Christian life."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cessario |first1=Romanus |title=Non Possomus |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/02/non-possumus |access-date=9 October 2022 |publisher=First Things}}</ref> Catholic writer [[Michael Sean Winters]] called the article "morally repugnant" and "intellectually deplorable", while ''First Things'' regular contributor [[Robert P. George]] described it as "an embarrassment".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Momigliano |first1=Anna |title=Why Some Catholics Defend The Kidnapping of a Jewish Boy |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/01/some-catholics-are-defending-the-kidnapping-of-a-jewish-boy/551240/ |access-date=9 October 2022 |publisher=The Atlantic}}</ref>

In 2022, ''First Things'' published "[[The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism]]" by Aaron Renn.<ref name="3Worlds-FT">{{cite journal |last1=Renn |first1=Aaron |title=The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism |journal=First Things |date=February 2022 |url=https://www.firstthings.com/article/2022/02/the-three-worlds-of-evangelicalism |access-date=31 December 2024}}</ref> The essay spawned a full-length book, ''Life in the Negative World'', and was the most-read print issue article on the ''FT'' website in 2022.<ref name="FT-mostread">{{cite web |title=Our Most Popular Articles of 2022 |url=https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2022/12/our-most-popular-articles-of-2022 |website=First Things |access-date=31 December 2024 |date=December 20, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Christianity Today]]'' said Renn's "positive-neutral-negative world framework is among the most thought-provoking ideas pertaining to American evangelicalism this century."<ref name="CT-Review">{{cite news |last1=Bennett |first1=Daniel |title=Christians Shouldn't Run from a 'Negative World.' But They Can Depend on It Less. |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/05/aaron-renn-life-negative-world-evangelicals-anti-christian/ |access-date=31 December 2024 |work=Christianity Today |date=May 10, 2024}}</ref>