[link removed]


** Daily Newsletter: October 7, 2025
------------------------------------------------------------


** In today’s newsletter:
------------------------------------------------------------

KEVIN DEYOUNG: Enjoyably Evangelical ([link removed])

ADAM EILATH: What Charles Taylor Got Wrong ([link removed])

Welcome to the new and improved Daily Newsletter from First Things. Our content isn’t going to change drastically—we’ll still bring you the new articles each day, straight to your inbox.

Now, we'll also connect new articles to the larger conversations First Things has been leading for thirty-five years.

And if you don’t want to read all that, the new articles are listed at the top.
[link removed]


** Enjoyable Evangelical ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------


** Kevin Deyoung
------------------------------------------------------------

From the October issue: Christian apologetics can get heated, especially online. Readers of all Christian persuasions would do well to read Calvinist pastor Kevin DeYoung’s amiable review of Peter Kreeft’s autobiography From Calvinist to Catholic. Both Kreeft in his book and DeYoung in his review take refreshingly respectful stances toward opposing faith traditions while firmly defending their own.

For further reading: Peter Kreeft has only written once for First Things, in the November 1996 issue of the magazine. “The Politics of Architecture ([link removed]) ” is an essay about worldviews, surprising allies and, of course, buildings.
[link removed]


** What Charles Taylor Got Wrong ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------


** Adam Eilath
------------------------------------------------------------

Many of those disenchanted with modernity have found solace in the philosophy of Charles Taylor. But Adam Eilath’s debut piece in these pages critiques Taylor by contrasting his assessment with those of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). Soloveitchik and Ratzinger more correctly diagnose the errors of a culture that dismisses truth and faith. “Taylor tells us we must live with many construals, none of them mere errors. Soloveitchik called that posture subjectivism; Ratzinger called it tyranny,” Eilath writes.

For further reading: Rowan Williams, former archbishop of Canterbury, favorably reviewed ([link removed]) Taylor’s book Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment in last year’s November magazine. For more on Soloveitchik, read Matthew Rose’s “A Rabbi For Christians ([link removed]) ” from 2024, or Shalom Carmy’s “The Rev: The World of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik ([link removed]) ” from 2000. Rose also wrote about Charles Taylor and Catholicism in “Tayloring Christianity ([link removed]) ” in 2014.
[link removed]


** After October 7 ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------


** Tania Hammer
------------------------------------------------------------

In the news: Today is the anniversay of Hamas’ attack on Israel, igniting the last two years of war. Tania Hammer wrote from Jerusalem about that day and its aftermath: “We are at war, but these past few days of witnessing the love and gratitude of all who volunteered fill me with a bit of peace.”

Upcoming Events
* November 2, 2025: A Night of Poetry with Ben Myers | New York, NY. Register here ([link removed]) . ([link removed])
* November 3, 2025: The 38th Annual Erasmus Lecture: In Praise of Translation | New York, NY. Register here. ([link removed])
* November 11, 2025: Lecture at the University of Dallas | Irving, TX. Details coming soon.
* January 9, 2026: Second Annual Neuhaus Lecture at the New College of Florida | Sarasota, FL. Details coming soon.

Until next time.
Virginia Aabram's signature


** VIRGINIA AABRAM
------------------------------------------------------------
Newsletter Editor
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]

Copyright © 2025 First Things, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in at firstthings.com.

============================================================
Our mailing address is:
First Things
9 East 40th St Fl 10
New York, NY 10016
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.