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

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.>

Préface
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.

Auteur
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.

Contenu
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