The links between religion and food have been known for centuries. The Bible's story of the origins of humanity begins with the eating of fruit, and at the heart of Christianity - and acted out every Sunday - is the eating of bread which is miraculously transformed into the Body of Christ. For Islam, the eating and fasting around Ramadan are a key part of one of the most important spiritual events of the Muslim calendar, while the dietary laws of Judaism are designed to create awareness of living in the time and space of the Torah. Though we know these things, we rarely examine or fully understand the nature of the relationship between food and spirituality, or food and sin.<BR>This book takes seriously the idea that food matters and that eating and many of its aspects - table fellowship, culinary traditions, the relationship between tasting and knowing, and the aesthetic, ethical, and political dimensions of food - are important and complex, and throw light on the relationship between food and religion.<BR>Drawing on literature, anthropology, cultural studies, politics, and philosophy, as well as theology, this book illuminates the role of food in religion and shows religion in a new light.