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R.R. Reno, Yale ’90 PhD, is prompting cultural engagement by Christians through his work as editor of First Things. As a theologian and professor at Creighton University, R.R. Reno has studied the impact of faith and scripture upon the world. As the current editor of the highly regarded journal, First Things, Reno, Yale ‘90 PhD, is now engaging the world by prompting discussion around the issues and events that intersect faith and culture. Leading the magazine has caused him to come out of professorial study and into the pubic square more fully. Instead of analyzing Elizabethan poetry, Reno, now on sabbatical from Creighton, is putting his beliefs on the discussion table and addressing issues such as intellectuality and culture. For example, in a First Things article about Theologian James B. Jordan, Reno applauds Jordan’s ability to “put the living realities of the Bible at the center of his thought.” Conversely, intellectual culture, Reno said, has “come to a dead end.” In another piece, Reno writes about the blessing of divine authority in a society that values liberal individuality. “Divine authority as a blessing, as a disciplining power that ennobles us and perfects our humanity? This is not something our liberal culture prepares us to understand, much less accept. What about critical freedom? What about intellectual integrity? Which divine authority? Doesn’t this lead to sectarian fanaticism and religious conflict? Good questions and the kind we need to answer if we’re to know what kind of churches and synagogues we want, what kind of catechesis we want for our children, what kind of faith for ourselves,” he writes. Reno said he hopes to contribute to a real culture of life through his writing. That life, he said, goes beyond abortion and end of life issues. “The human person is made for truth and made for life, art, music, intrinsic world order, and literature—the fullness of life that Christ promised,” said Reno. As a result, he hopes to help thwart the cynicism of the age that suggests that nothing is worthy of love. “I would like to be in service of those things worthy of love and encourage others to take the risk,” he said. Reno knows something about risk. In his book, In the Ruins of the Church: Sustaining Faith in an Age of Diminished Christianity, Reno encouraged his fellow Episcopalians to stay put in the church despite its failings. Later, however, Reno himself could no longer stay put and he converted to Catholicism. As a result, some of his friends and fellow writers took issue with his decision. But for Reno, the decision to turn to the Roman Catholic Church was a natural transition and a choice that doesn’t need defending. “I was unaware of how spiritually exhausted I had become,” he said. “The Catholic Church is an unequivocal source of spiritual life for me.” He admits there were aspects of Catholicism that were alien to him, but through time, he came to understand that “spiritual truths are like friends or family. You only really know them by virtue of intimacy with them.” At First Things, Reno is helping readers come to terms with spiritual truths by highlighting the relevancy of scripture for contemporary culture. “The call of the Christian intellectual is to have the Gospel be leaven for our engagement on many levels of culture and public life,” he said. And through the diverse and rigorous discussions presented in First Things, Reno is giving rise to that leaven and a forum for truth. “I hope future leaders also recognize truth for what it is,” said Reno, cautioning Christians to be bold about what they believe and not just focus on what they are against. Christians, says Reno, must be able to answer the question, “What am I for?” As for Reno, he is for the truth and bringing faith to light amidst the gray areas of culture.
PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Sean Brady |
FIRST THINGS FIRST