Confessions Of A Food Catholic

You can sin with food in many ways: by not sharing it, by eating way too much of it, or by throwing it across the restaurant table, for example. But you do not sin with food by bowing your head over it, saying grace with true gratitude in your heart, and tucking in.

Sharp-edged but humorous, Confessions of a Food Catholic addresses the unscriptural approach to food that many Christians have developed in recent years. (By the way, a “food catholic” is somebody who accepts all eaters of all foods, even if he or she doesn’t actually eat quinoa.) Specifically, the book addresses divisive threats to Christian table fellowship, the know-it-all pride of newfangled kosher rules, and the dislocated moralism that makes “organic” and “natural” the signs of righteousness while disdaining the brethren who buy their beef at Stuffmart.

Wilson concludes with an enthusiastic Gospel application: Meals — hot food, napkins, guests, clean up — are a big deal, because they’re about loving people. We should like meals them more than we do.