ABSTRACT
The gospels have no special message concerning food. The one New Testament narrative in which attitudes to food are given central importance is the Acts of the Apostles. Food and eating are mentioned in Acts in three major contexts:
1 in descriptions of the communal meals of the followers of Jesus, who were praying, worshipping and giving thanks with ‘breaking bread’ in joyful spirit (Acts 2:42; 2:46; 16:34; 20:7; 27:33-6);
2 in food distribution or charity as this became institutionalized (6:1-3); 3 in the context of the problem that the Jewish food laws posed for
the mission to the Gentiles (10:10-15; 11:2-3; 15:19-20).
