This handbook situates early Christian meals in their broader context, with a focus on the core topics that aid understanding of Greco-Roman meal practice, and how this relates to Christian origins. In addition to looking at the broader Hellenistic context, the contributors explain the unique nature of Christian meals, and what they reveal about early Christian communities and the development of Christian identity.
Beginning with Hellenistic documents and authors before moving on to the New Testament material itself, according to genre - Gospels, Acts, Letters, Apocalyptic Literature - the handbook culminates with a section on the wider resources that describe daily life in the period, such as medical documents and inscriptions. The literary, historical, theological and philosophical aspects of these resources are also considered, including such aspects as the role of gender during meals; issues of monotheism and polytheism that arise from the structure of the meal; how sacrifice is understood in different meal practices; power dynamics during the meal and issues of inclusion and exclusion at meals.
Arvustused
Meals and dining, often overlooked by biblical scholars, were as definitive for early Christian groups as they were for both Hellenistic and Roman culture. Offering extensive treatment of the New Testament and key literature contemporary with it, the Handbook surveys how meals are portrayed in texts and demonstrates how deeply dining ritual was tied to ethnic identity, social regulation, gender issues, politics, and religion. * Richard E. DeMaris, Valparaiso University, USA * The expert contributors to this volume provide a wealth of data and analysis for situating New Testament meals so revelatory of early Christ-movement identity within their crucial Greco-Roman context. Here theoretical perspectives merge with fresh readings of numerous particular texts, making this book the necessary starting-point for understanding meals and related phenomena in the New Testament. * Philip Esler, University of Gloucestershire, UK *
Muu info
What significance does the ritual meal have in early Christian communities? How can this inform our understanding of Christian origins? This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of this crucial issue in early Christian identity, drawing from the New Testament and Greco-Roman literature.
Contents
Introduction to T&T Clark Handbook to Early Christian Meals in the
Greco-Roman World, Peter-Ben Smit and Soham Al-Suadi
Part One Authors & Collections
1 Meals in the Works of Philo of Alexandria, Maria Sokolskaya
2 Dining with Dignity: Josephuss Rhetorical Use of the Essene Common Meals,
William den Hollander
3 Plutarchs Septem sapientium convivium: An Example of Greco-Roman Sympotic
Literature, Matthias Becker
4 Meals at Qumran: Literary Fiction, Liturgical Anticipation, or Performed
Ritual?, Claudia D. Bergmann
5 Hermetic Texts in Nag Hammadi Codex VI, Jan Heilmann
6 Meals in the Apostolic Fathers, Andrew McGowan
7 Prepare Yourself. Spatial Rhetoric in Rabbinic and Synoptic Meal
Parables, Eric Ottenheijm
Part Two Gospel Tradition
8 The Gospel of Mark The Commitment of the Unleavened to the Kingdom of
God Agenda of Jesus, Martin Ebner
9 Meals in the Gospel of Luke, Matthias Klinghardt
10 The Primary Role of Meals in Matthews Construction of Diasporic Identity,
Hal E. Taussig
11 Let Anyone Who is Thirsty Come to Me, and Let the One Who Believes in Me
Drink: The Johannine Jesus as the True Provider of Earthly and Heavenly
Nourishment, Esther Kobel
12 Interpretations of the Eucharist in the Gospel of Philip, Silke Petersen
Part Three Acts
13 Meals as a Literary Motif in Acts of the Apostles, Dennis E. Smith
14 The Contribution of Meal Scenes to the Narrative Theology of Acts of Paul,
Annette Merz
15 Eucharists and other Meals in the Apocryphal Acts of John and Acts of
Andrew, Jan N. Bremmer
16 Meals in Joseph and Aseneth, Angela Standhartinger
Part Four Epistolary Literature
17 The Meal in 1 Corinthians 11, Soham Al-Suadi
18 Meals in the Letter to the Romans The Debate about the Food on the
Table, Kathy Ehrensperger
19 Pseudepigraphic Letters of Paul, Soham Al-Suadi
20 Meals in the Johannine Letters, Jan Heilmann
21 Meals in the Further Epistolary Literature of the New Testament, Hans
Joachim Stein
22 Useless Foods: Communal Meals in Hebrews, Gabriella Gelardini
Part Five Apocalyptic Literature
23 Food in Fourth Ezra, Peter-Ben Smit
24 Meals and Banqueting Culture in the Apocalypse of John, Markus Öhler
Part Six Texts of Daily Life
25 Meals and Magic: Eating for Revelation in the Eighth Book of Moses (PGM
XIII/ Leiden I 395), Monika Amsler
26 Meals in Ancient Medicinal Texts, John Wilkins
27 Material Meals: Space, Inscription and Image as the Texts of Daily Life,
Lillian I. Larsen and Jesper Blid
Name Index
Ancient Sources
Soham Al-Suadi is Professor of New Testament at the University of Rostock, Germany.
Peter-Ben Smit is Professor of Contextual Biblical Interpretation (Dom Hélder Câmara Chair) at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.
