Food Justice and Hospitality in Luke-Acts: A Historical and Contemporary Interpretation

Food security is a multifaceted concept and extends beyond the production of, availability of, and demand for food. This book attempts to explore the meal narrations in Luke-Acts as a source for a theology of hospitality to ascertain Luke’s concern for the immigrant, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the outcasts. This book focuses on fifteen meal scenes in Luke-Acts and contributes to Lukan scholarship on meals, particularly in addressing the issue of food insecurity. Firstly, by incorporating cultural dimensions and anthropology to understand the social context of the first-century world, this book contributes a new perspective on the Lukan audience, which was stratified by socioeconomic and religious disparities in terms of privilege, wealth, and power. Secondly, this book analyzes the Lukan concern with the social structure and the social, political, economic, and religious setting behind his emphasis on the ptōchoi and the marginalized concerning livelihood needs such as food and shelter. Thirdly, this book connects Lukan concern with contemporary theologies that include an emphasis on hunger and hospitality, such as liberation theology, Dalit theology, and practical theology. Thus, the book challenges readers and offers a few recommendations for implementations to combat hunger and destitution.

GIDEON S. S. PAULRAJ is an ordained minister of the Church of South India, a Church in the Anglican Communion, and teaches courses in New Testament, Greek language, and theology. He received his PhD from the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham. Having been born and brought up in India, he is concerned about the destitute (beggars), and this concern motivates him to read Luke-Acts and to propose a Lukan theology of hunger and hospitality.