Theology on the Menu: Asceticism, Meat and Christian Diet

Food - what we eat, how much we eat, how it is produced and prepared, and its cultural and ecological significance- is an increasingly significant topic not only for scholars but for all of us. Theology on the Menu is the first systematic and historical assessment of Christian attitudes to food and its role in shaping Christian identity. David Grumett and Rachel Muers unfold a fascinating history of feasting and fasting, food regulations and resistance to regulation, the symbolism attached to particular foods, the relationship between diet and doctrine, and how food has shaped inter-religious encounters. Everyone interested in Christian approaches to food and diet or seeking to understand how theology can engage fruitfully with everyday life will find this book a stimulus and an inspiration.

David Grumett is Research Fellow in Theology at the University of Exeter. He is author of Teilhard de Chardin: Theology, Humanity and Cosmos (2005) and De Lubac: A Guide for the Perplexed (2007) and of articles and book chapters on theology and food, modern French Catholic thought, science and religion, and biblical interpretation.

Rachel Muers is Lecturer in Christian Studies at the University of Leeds. She is the author of Keeping God's Silence: Towards a theological ethics of communication (2004), Living for the Future: Theological ethics for future generations (2008), and of articles and book chapters on theological ethics and feminist theology.

Rachel Muers and David Grumett are joint editors of Eating and Believing: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Vegetarianism and Theology (2008).