ABSTRACT
Religion would appear to be the very last thing that can be consumed. After all, the great religious traditions combat the temptations of human nature, including greed and self-indulgence. Thus Judaeo-Christianity sanctions discipline (the dietary rules of Leviticus or the Protestant ethic, for example). And far from being treated as being at the beck and call of demanding consumers, God has been seen as a power able to ‘consume’ mortals (as in Leviticus 26:16, where God announces that ‘I will even appoint over you terror…that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart’).
