This two-volume set offers information on food-related religious beliefs, customs, and practices from around the world. Provides up-to-date factual information, introduces concepts of food as being more than just nutrients, and enables an understanding of diverse religious traditions and the importance of food in people's lives. Includes coverage of less well-known rituals and religions that are often skipped in world religion texts.

An indispensable resource for exploring food and faith, this two-volume set offers information on food-related religious beliefs, customs, and practices from around the world. Why do Catholics eat fish on Fridays? Why are there retirement homes for aged cows in India? What culture holds ceremonies to welcome the first salmon? More than five billion people worldwide claim a religious identity that shapes the way they think about themselves, how they act, and what they eat. Food, Feasts, and Faith: An Encyclopedia of Food Culture in World Religions explores how the food we eat every day often serves purposes other than to keep us healthy and stay alive: we eat to express our faith and to adhere to ethnic or cultural traditions that are part of who we are. This book provides readers with an understanding of the rich world of food and faith. It contains more than 200 alphabetically arranged entries that describe the beliefs and customs of well-established major world religions and sects as well as those of smaller faith communities and new religious movements. The entries cover topics such as religious food rules, religious festivals and symbolic foods, and vegetarianism and veganism, as well as general themes such as rites of passage, social justice, hospitality, and compassion. Each entry on religion explains what the religious dietary laws and guidelines are and how these were interpreted and put into practice historically and in modern settings. The coverage also includes important festivals and feast days as well as significant religious figures and organizations. Additionally, some 160 sidebars provide examples and more detailed information as well as fun facts.

This two-volume set offers information on food-related religious beliefs, customs, and practices from around the world. Provides up-to-date factual information, introduces concepts of food as being more than just nutrients, and enables an understanding of diverse religious traditions and the importance of food in people's lives. Includes coverage of less well-known rituals and religions that are often skipped in world religion texts.

This anthology follows the intersection of food and faith from the fourteenth to the twenty-first century, charting the complex relationship among religious eating habits and politics, culture, and social structure.

The New Testament is filled with stories of Jesus eating with people--from extravagant wedding banquets to simple meals of loaves and fishes. The Food and Feasts of Jesus offers a new perspective on life in biblical times by taking readers inside these meals. Food production and distribution impacted all aspects of ancient life, including the teachings of Jesus. From elaborate holiday feasts to a simple farmer's lunch, the book explores the significance of various meals, discusses key ingredients, places food within the socioeconomic conditions of the time, and offers accessible recipes for readers to make their own tastes of the first century. Ideal for individual reading or group study, this book opens a window into the tumultuous world of the first century and invites readers to smell, touch, and taste the era's food.

Here is a cookbook to celebrate the joys of family and faith throughout the Christian year. Wonderful recipes and ideas from the Christian tradition offer suggestions on when and why these dishes might be served. 275 recipes bring new meaning to "breaking bread together". Illustrated.