The Theology of Food: Eating and the Eucharist (Illuminations: Theory & Religion) [Hardcover]

Angel F. Méndez-Montoya (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1405189673 | ISBN-13: 978-1405189675 | Publication Date: March 17, 2009 | Edition: 1

The links between religion and food have been known for centuries, and yet we rarely examine or understand the nature of the relationship between food and spirituality, or food and sin. Drawing on literature, politics, and philosophy as well as theology, this book unlocks the role food has played within religious tradition.

• A fascinating book tracing the centuries-old links between theology and food, showing religion in a new and intriguing light
• Draws on examples from different religions: the significance of the apple in the Christian Bible and the eating of bread as the body of Christ; the eating and fasting around Ramadan for Muslims; and how the dietary laws of Judaism are designed to create an awareness of living in the time and space of the Torah
• Explores ideas from the fields of literature, politics, and philosophy, as well as theology
• Takes seriously the idea that food matters, and that the many aspects of eating – table fellowship, culinary traditions, the aesthetic, ethical and political dimensions of food – are important and complex, and throw light on both religion and our relationship to food

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For all its erudition, this book is more complex and valuable than a simple examination of Christian consumption. It offers rich reflection on the prophetic and generous ways in which Christianity might still disciple consumers who desire the superabundant grace made material in the flesh of Jesus Christ." (Theological Book Review, 2011)

"This much-needed book takes seriously the Churches' unique contribution to understanding the importance of food." (Church Times, 11 February 2011)

"Montoya's book is a delight to read, and is a significant contribution to the effort to apply theological thinking to the everyday realities of embodied life." (Modern Theology, April 2010)

"It is a thought provoking and engaging work on the role of the Eucharist in Christian life." (CHOICE, August 2009)

"This book deserves to be widely read and, if you will forgive the metaphor, digested." (Christian Century, June 2010)

Review

"Eating and drinking feature in most religions, one way or another, and especially in Christianity, where the central act of worshipping God is based on a meal, which also symbolizes the common life of the human race: this book unites Eucharistic theology and politics in an extremely original and yet deeply traditional manner."
–Fergus Kerr, University of Edinburgh

"What does it mean to lead a Eucharistic life? What is the relationship between the Body of Christ and human bodies, particularly the bodies of marginalized persons? What are the aesthetic, ethical, and political dimensions of food as locustheologicus? To address these questions, Angel Méndez Montoya draws on an extraordinary range of theological, philosophical, and narrative resources, thus providing us with a work as rich and delightful to savor as is the Mexican molli which is the culinary inspiration for Méndez's work."
–Roberto Goizueta, Boston College

"What a pleasure it is to be taken by Angel into such a subtly Catholic imagination! Here is a universe where generosity and abundance are prior to lack and to hunger, and where the dualisms to which we have become accustomed in our anorexic theological thinking have no place. Here also is a fleshing out of that generosity by means of concentrating our hearts and minds on what it means to be fed and to eat. And along with that comes a striking challenge as to what sort of Eucharistic communities we are to create. Theologians, philosophers, novelists, and chefs are blended together in this rich repast which brings to life, more than I can remember seeing anywhere, the true sense of Manna as fulfilled by Jesus in John’s Gospel."
–James Alison, Chicago

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (March 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405189673
• ISBN-13: 978-1405189675
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.8 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,793,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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