Russell Ronald Reno III (born 1959), known as R. R. Reno, is the editor of ''

First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is an ecumenical and conservative religious journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The magazine, which focuses on theology, liturgy, church history, religi ...

'' magazine. He was formerly a professor of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

and ethics at

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

Biography

Reno was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1959, and grew up in

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincor ...

. A graduate of

Towson High School Towson High School is a high school in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, founded in 1873. The school's current stone structure was built in 1949. Located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson and serving the surrounding communities ...

in 1978, after a year living in his tent in

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California. The valley is about long and deep, surroun ...

, he attended

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducationa ...

, receiving a B.A. in 1983. He began graduate study at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

in the Department of Religious Studies in 1984 and completed his doctoral degree in 1990 in the area of religious ethics. While in graduate school he met and married Juliana Miller, with whom he has had two children, Rachel (born 1990) and Jesse (born 1992, died 2021). He received his first faculty appointment at Creighton University in 1990, where he taught until 2010 when he took an extended academic leave to work full-time at ''First Things.'' A theological and political conservative, Reno was baptized into the Episcopal Church as an infant and grew up as a member of the Church of the Redeemer in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

. As an adult he was an active participant in the Episcopal Church, serving as Senior Warden of the Church of the Resurrection in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1991 to 1995, as deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1993, 1996, and 1999, and as a member of the Theology Committee of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops from 2001 to 2003. On September 18, 2004, he was received into the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. He explained his conversion in this way: "As an Episcopalian I needed a theory to stay put, and I came to realize that a theory is a thin thread easily broken. The Catholic Church needs no theories." In addition to his academic pursuits, Reno has been an avid rock climber and mountaineer from a young age.

Controversy

Since 2011 Reno has been editor of ''

'', a conservative Christian journal with a wide readership. He courted controversy during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

by downplaying the risks of the virus and attacking both public policy and steps taken by churches to control the outbreak at the expense of regular economic and ecclesial activity. The pandemic, he claimed, "is not and never was a threat to society" and that mask mandates were "enforced cowardice" followed by "men, not cowards."

Works

* ''Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism and the Future of the West'' (Regnery Gateway 2019) * ''Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society'' (Salem 2016) * ''Fighting the Noonday Devil — and Other Essays Personal and Theological'' (Eerdmans 2011) * ''Genesis'' (Brazos Press 2010) * ''Sanctified Vision: An Introduction to Early Christian Interpretation of the Bible'' (with John J. O’Keefe; John Hopkins 2005) * ''In the Ruins of the Church'' (Baker 2002) * ''Redemptive Change: Atonement and the Cure of the Soul'' (Trinity Press 2002) * ''Heroism and The Christian Life'' (with Brian Stewart Hook; WJK 2000)

References

External links

Article on his conversion to Roman Catholicism
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reno, R. R. 1959 births Living people Writers from Baltimore People from Towson, Maryland Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism American theologians Haverford College alumni Yale University alumni Creighton University faculty Catholics from Maryland