This book offers the first comparative evaluation of Alain Badiou and Jean-Luc Marion, two of the most important philosophers at work today."Badiou, Marion and St Paul" addresses the difficult question of whether it is possible to coherently think the notion of grace strictly in terms of immanence. The book develops a model for the thought of an immanent grace that avoids the traps of both obscurantism (the invocation of a wholly ineffably or transcendent ground for grace) and banality (the reduction of grace to nothing more than a variation of the established order).The conceptual resources needed for the development of such a model are gathered from sustained and original readings of St Paul's letter to the Romans, Jean-Luc Marion's "Being Given" and Alain Badiou's "Being and Event". As each thinker is taken up, their unique contributions to the model are elaborated and their positions are coordinated with each of the others in order to render a comparative evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses possible. The result of this triangulation is the emergence of a common conceptual strategy that simultaneously opens surprisingly direct paths into the heart of each of their disparate projects and, more importantly, a viable route to the thought of a genuinely immanent grace.

This book offers a novel account of grace framed in terms of Bruno Latour's "principle of irreduction." It thus models an object-oriented approach to grace, experimentally moving a traditional Christian understanding of grace out of a top-down, theistic ontology and into an agent-based, object-oriented ontology. In the process, it also provides a systematic and original account of Latour's overall project. The account of grace offered here redistributes the tasks assigned to science and religion. Where now the work of science is to bring into focus objects that are too distant, too resistant, and too transcendent to be visible, the business of religion is to bring into focus objects that are too near, too available, and too immanent to be visible. Where science reveals transcendent objects by correcting for our nearsightedness, religion reveals immanent objects by correcting for our farsightedness. Speculative Grace remaps the meaning of grace and examines the kinds of religious instruments and practices that, as a result, take center stage.

The Gospel According to David Foster Wallace is the first book to explore key religious themes - from boredom to addiction, and distraction - in the work of one of America's most celebrated contemporary novelists. In a series of short, topic-focussed chapters, the book joins a selection of key scenes from Wallace's novels Infinite Jest and The Pale King with clear explanations of how they contribute to his overall account of what it means to be a human being in the 21st century. Adam Miller explores how Wallace's work masterfully investigates the nature of first-world boredom and shows, in the process, how easy it is to get addicted to distraction (chemical, electronic, or otherwise). Implicitly critiquing, excising, and repurposing elements of AA's Twelve Step program, Wallace suggests that the practice of prayer (regardless of belief in God), the patient application of attention to things that seem ordinary and boring, and the internalization of cliches may be the antidote to much of what ails us in the 21st century.

The Gospel According to David Foster Wallace is the first book to explore key religious themes - from boredom to addiction, and distraction - in the work of one of America's most celebrated contemporary novelists. In a series of short, topic-focused chapters, the book joins a selection of key scenes from Wallace's novels Infinite Jest and The Pale King with clear explanations of how they contribute to his overall account of what it means to be a human being in the 21st century. Adam Miller explores how Wallace's work masterfully investigates the nature of first-world boredom and shows, in the process, how easy it is to get addicted to distraction (chemical, electronic, or otherwise). Implicitly critiquing, excising, and repurposing elements of AA's Twelve Step program, Wallace suggests that the practice of prayer (regardless of belief in God), the patient application of attention to things that seem ordinary and boring, and the internalization of cliches may be the antidote to much of what ails us in the 21st century.

New expanded edition! The third installment of the Tower of David/Marian Publications series on the conflict between the North and the South examines from a traditional Catholic historical perspective the policies of Abraham Lincoln and the Federal forces towards both the Southern States and the Northern States and their citizens. In a popular style, Miller examines Lincoln's war policies in light of the Constitution, the Natural Law and the Just War theory. With documentation Miller exposes Lincoln as neither honest nor a man of integrity. Proves with official U.S. Government records that Lincoln, not the South, inaugurated war, and did so illegally. Includes many shocking facts, quotes, and detailed information omitted from establishment histories and which are ignored, if not suppressed, in the U.S. educational system.

Part II of the Marian Publication series, "The Conflict Between the North and the South." The issue of slavery is examined from a Catholic perspective of authority and servitude, and how both are misunderstood in this post-Enlightenment age. What were the origins of slavery in America? Were only blacks enslaved? Were whites the only slave holders? Who primarily financed and ran the slave trade from America? Did all, or most, slaves despise their masters? Are all forms of slavery intrinsically evil? Author Adam Miller provides a jaw-dropping, eye-opening myth-destroyer concerning slavery in the United States of America. Written from a most unique perspective when it comes to this emotional topic: not neccessarily from a pro-Southern perspective, but from a traditional Catholic historical approach. "The North, the South, and Slavery" was written as a remedy to the numerous distortions, misrepresentations, and out-right falsehoods concerning slavery, the South, and the North's connection with the slave-trade.

In this concise examination of cause and right, Adam S. Miller, using the traditional Christian and biblical principles of authority, using logic, historical fact, and the Constitution,in an easy-to-read manner examines the causes and numerous questions concerning this pivotal conflict in U. S. history. This is the first of a four part series on the conflict between the North and the South. Author Adam Miller examines the cultural, political, and circumstantial causes of what is known as the "Civil War," He demonstrates that the idea of the "sovereignty of the people" does not justify the right of secession as most Southerners hold. But a true principle in accord with God's revelation and Natural Law does justify the Southern cause. This book explains what it is. Using sound logic Mr. Miller also addresses numerous questions such as: - Who actually began the aggression? - Who was constitutionally in the right? - Was the war really fought over slavery as most Americans think? - Was it a "Civil War"