T&T Clark Handbook to Early Christian Meals in the Greco-Roman World: : T&T Clark Handbooks Soham Al-Suadi T&T Clark

T&T Clark Handbook to Early Christian Meals in the Greco-Roman World

Description

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.

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: Josephus's Rhetorical Use of the Essene Common Meals, William den Hollander
3 Plutarch's 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 Matthew's 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

Product details

Published	Apr 24 2025
Format	Paperback
Edition	1st
Extent	416
ISBN	9780567716576
Imprint	T&T Clark
Dimensions	9 x 6 inches
Series	T&T Clark Handbooks
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

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