Pacific School of Religion
Dates: February 4 – May 24, 2013
We are hungry beings, for without food we perish. But human hunger is not only for food, but for the other as well. Hunger reveals a fundamental desire, appetite for the other, and the need of interdependence. Both in the Hebrew and Christian biblical narratives food is a symbol of God's desire to be near humanity, responding to hungers of all sorts.
Tuition: $700
CEUs: 4
For more information contact Laurie Isenberg.
Class description: In the Eucharist, God becomes food and drink, sharing divinity and inviting people to become nourishment to others-particularly those who are materially and spiritually hungry. The Eucharist mediates a divine initiative to intimate with creation, to attend to our hunger, caring and preparing an all-inclusive banquet. From a theological horizon, God gives Herself to us as food to be shared, performing divine caritas: a space and time where divine power is self-giving, yet paradoxically does not turn into lack or competition, but into superabundance and plenitudinous sharing. The theologian has a prophetic vocation to become what she eats, participating of God's own gift, and transforming theology into a practice of an all-inclusive table fellowship. This course is divided in three sections. Each section separately explores theological themes related to hunger, food, and the Eucharist. However, these three themes-though independent-are interconnected, and complement each other. The assigned readings are mainly taken from theological works, yet there are texts that come from various disciplines, such as anthropology, cultural theory, body and gender theories, politics and economics. The goal is to create a space for interdisciplinary dialogue, and thus nourish theological thinking.