T&T Clark handbook to early Christian meals in the Greco-Roman world / edited by Soham Al-Suadi and Peter-Ben Smit.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction to T&T Clark handbook to early Christian meals in the Greco-Roman world / Peter-Ben Smit, Soham Al-Suadi -- Meals in the works of Philo of Alexandria / Maria Sokolskaya -- Dining with dignity : Josephus's rhetorical use of the Essene common meals / William den Hollander -- Plutarch's Septem sapientium convivium : an example of Greco-Roman sympotic literature / Matthias Becker -- Meals at Qumran : literary fiction, liturgical anticipation, or performed ritual? / Claudia D. Bergmann -- Hermetic texts in Nag Hammadi Codex VI / Jan Heilmann -- Meals in the Apostolic Fathers / Andrew McGowan -- Prepare yourself : spatial rhetoric in Rabbinic and synoptic meal parables / Eric Ottenheijm -- The Gospel of Mark - the commitment of the 'unleavened' to the kingdom of God agenda of Jesus / Martin Ebner -- Meals in the Gospel of Luke / Matthias Klinghardt -- The primary role of meals in Matthew's construction of diasporic identity / Hal E. Taussig -- 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 -- Interpretations of the Eucharist in the Gospel of Philip / Silke Petersen -- Meals as a literary motif in Acts of the Apostles / Dennis E. Smith -- The contribution of meal scenes to the narrative theology of Acts of Paul / Annette Merz -- Eucharists and other meals in the apocryphal Acts of John and Acts of Andrew / Jan N. Bremmer -- Meals in Joseph and Aseneth / Angela Standhartinger -- The meal in 1 Corinthians 11 / Soham Al-Suadi -- Meals in the letter to the Romans - the debate about the food on the table / Kathy Ehrensperger -- Pseudepigraphic letters of Paul / Soham Al-Suadi -- Meals in the Johannine letters / Jan Heilmann -- Meals in the further epistolary literature of the New Testament / Hans Joachim Stein -- Useless foods : communal meals in Hebrews / Gabriella Gelardini -- Food in Fourth Ezra / Peter-Ben Smit -- Meals and banqueting culture in the Apocalypse of John / Markus Öhler -- Meals and magic : eating for revelation in the eighth book of Moses (PGM XIII/Leiden I 395) / Monika Amsler -- Meals in ancient medicinal texts / John Wilkins -- Material meals : space, inscription and image as the texts of daily life / Lillian I. Larsen, Jesper Blid.

Meals are a highly significant element in the development of Christian identity. In this handbook Soham Al-Suadi and Peter-Ben Smit present chapters that situate early Christian meals in their broader context, with a focus on the core topics that will help us to understand Greco-Roman meal practice and how this relates to Christian origins. The issues covered include: 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. In addition to looking at the broader Hellenistic context the chapters explain the unique nature of Christian meals, and what this says about early Christian communities. The handbook is structured around the key primary resources, with the literary, historical, theological and philosophical aspects of these resources being considered in turn. The handbook begins with Hellenistic documents/authors before moving on to the New Testament material itself according to genre (Gospels, Acts, Letters, Apocalyptic Literature). Finally, there is a section on the wider resources that describe daily life in the period (medical documents, inscriptions). This structure enables the editors and contributors to present an analysis of the social values exhibited at meals and their significance for early Christian theology.