The Theology of Food: Eating and the Eucharist / Edition 1

by Angel F. Méndez-Montoya

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470674987
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	04/23/2012
Series:	Illuminations: Theory & Religion
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Angel F. Méndez-Montoya, OP is a member of the Southern Dominican Province in the USA. He currently teaches theology and philosophy at Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico, where he is also the coordinator of the Faith and Culture Program. He is a Ph.D. in philosophical theology from the University of Virginia and was scholar in residence at University of Cambridge.

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Table of Contents

Foreword vi
Joaquín Racionero Page

Preface ix

Acknowledgments x

Introduction. Food Talk: Overlapping Matters 1

1 The Making of Mexican Molli and Alimentary Theology in the Making 11

2 Sabor/Saber: Taste and the Eros of Cognition 45

3 Being Nourished: Food Matters 77

4 Sharing in the Body of Christ and the Theopolitics of Superabundance 113

Conclusion. Food Notes: Prolegomenon to a Eucharistic Discourse 157

Index 161

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is a book to be savoured like a beautiful meal. Its understanding of the Eucharist springs from both a profound study of the Scriptures and the traditions of the Church, and also a sensuous delight in that most intimate and sustaining of human activities, cooking and eating. This nourishing theological work also challenges us to build a society in which all of humanity shares at the common table of God."
—Timothy Radcliffe, OP, Blackfriars-Oxford University

Editorial Reviews

Nevertheless, this is an inspiring interpretation of the possibility of reclaiming and reconnecting theology, food, and a fuller eucharistic life.” (The Theology of Food, 1 October 2013)

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

"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)

"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)

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

"A thought provoking and engaging work on the role of the Eucharist in Christian life." (CHOICE)

“[T]his is an inspiring interpretation of the possibility of reclaiming and reconnecting theology, food, and a fuller eucharistic life.” (Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology)

From the Publisher