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.

ContentsIntroduction to T&T Clark Handbook to Early Christian Meals in the Greco-Roman World, Peter-Ben Smit and Soham Al-SuadiPart One Authors & Collections1 Meals in the Works of Philo of Alexandria, Maria Sokolskaya2 Dining with Dignity: Josephus's Rhetorical Use of the Essene Common Meals, William den Hollander3 Plutarch's Septem sapientium convivium: An Example of Greco-Roman Sympotic Literature, Matthias Becker4 Meals at Qumran: Literary Fiction, Liturgical Anticipation, or Performed Ritual?, Claudia D. Bergmann5 Hermetic Texts in Nag Hammadi Codex VI, Jan Heilmann6 Meals in the Apostolic Fathers, Andrew McGowan7 'Prepare Yourself.' Spatial Rhetoric in Rabbinic and Synoptic Meal Parables, Eric OttenheijmPart Two Gospel Tradition8 The Gospel of Mark - The Commitment of the 'Unleavened' to the Kingdom of God Agenda of Jesus, Martin Ebner9 Meals in the Gospel of Luke, Matthias Klinghardt10 The Primary Role of Meals in Matthew's Construction of Diasporic Identity, Hal E. Taussig11 '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 Kobel12 Interpretations of the Eucharist in the Gospel of Philip, Silke PetersenPart Three Acts13 Meals as a Literary Motif in Acts of the Apostles, Dennis E. Smith14 The Contribution of Meal Scenes to the Narrative Theology of Acts of Paul, Annette Merz15 Eucharists and other Meals in the Apocryphal Acts of John and Acts of Andrew, Jan N. Bremmer16 Meals in Joseph and Aseneth, Angela StandhartingerPart Four Epistolary Literature17 "The Meal in 1 Corinthians 11", Soham Al-Suadi18 Meals in the Letter to the Romans - The Debate about the Food on the Table, Kathy Ehrensperger19 Pseudepigraphic Letters of Paul, Soham Al-Suadi20 Meals in the Johannine Letters, Jan Heilmann21 Meals in the Further Epistolary Literature of the New Testament, Hans Joachim Stein22 Useless Foods: Communal Meals in Hebrews, Gabriella GelardiniPart Five Apocalyptic Literature23 Food in Fourth Ezra, Peter-Ben Smit24 Meals and Banqueting Culture in the Apocalypse of John, Markus ÖhlerPart Six Texts of Daily Life25 Meals and Magic: Eating for Revelation in the Eighth Book of Moses (PGM XIII/ Leiden I 395), Monika Amsler26 Meals in Ancient Medicinal Texts, John Wilkins27 Material Meals: Space, Inscription and Image as the Texts of Daily Life, Lillian I. Larsen and Jesper BlidName IndexAncient Sources