[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”1602589844″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QfPTRfs9L._SL160_.jpg” width=”107″]Page 3: Jennifer Ayres – Good Food
Christians whose faith and practice centers on Scripture may find themselves frustrated with Ayres’s approach. Though in some places she acknowledges that the Bible is deeply concerned with issues of food, land, and food justice (especially as concerns the disadvantaged) she does not fully engage the texts’ theological possibilities. Further, as suggested by the comments on “ideational theolo[gy]” above, she seems to be working from a position of skepticism of Christian theology in general, which she claims has frequently been unduly anthropocentric.
For example, she criticizes theologian Karl Barth’s understanding of creation as “the stage on which the drama of the divine-human relationship will take place” of “exaggerat[ing] humanity’s role in the drama of creation, when in reality ‘we are by no means the whole show[.]’” She does not quote or cite Barth directly but relies on another scholar’s critique of Barth, which is unfortunate given that Barth’s Church Dogmatics, volume III, deals seriously with the question of humanity’s right to shed the blood of animals for our own needs and desires, among other decidedly non-anthropocentric creational concerns that complicate the idea that Barth regarded creation as a stage and nothing more considerably.
Similarly, Ayres cites Lynn White’s influential 1967 article, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” as evidence that “theology does not offer an unambiguous ‘answer’ to the problem of the global food system.” I read the article in question, which is filled with claims (which Ayres does not cite) so sweeping and unsubstantiated as to defy credulity: “Christianity [unlike paganism and Eastern religions] not only established a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that it is God’s will that man exploit nature for his proper ends.” Perhaps it is not surprising that New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham’s 2010 book The Bible and Ecology does not appear on Ayres’s bibliography. Even a glancing look at Barth (or John Calvin, for that matter, to say nothing of the Psalms and Job) casts serious doubt on the claim that our ecological woes stem directly from the Bible or Christianity. Perhaps Ayres wants to avoid giving the impression that she has all the right theological answers, or that she is sufficiently critical of her tradition’s shortcomings, but oversights of this kind only undermine her case.
Finally, the general reader, who may come to the book looking for practical solutions – or even sustained and persuasive argument toward a particular point of view – will leave the intellectual table still hungry, aside from the worthwhile and important point that even small and symbolic steps are significant. On the whole, however, Jennifer Ayres’s book is meandering and tentative where it could have been forceful and persuasive. And that’s too bad, because the conversation about food – and what makes it good – doesn’t appear to be drawing to a close any time soon.
———
Rachel Marie Stone is the author of Eat With Joy (IVP, 2013) and of the forthcoming book The Unexpected Way (Peace Hill, 2014). She contributes regularly to Christianity Today’s her.meneutics blog and her writing has appeared in The Christian Century, The Huffington Post, Books & Culture, and Prism, among others. She teaches writing at Zomba Theological College in Malawi, Africa.
C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
Understanding Christian Nationalism [A Reading Guide] |
 Most Anticipated Books of the Fall for Christian Readers!
|
 Hilarious One-Star Customer Reviews of Bibles |
OK. So this review made me not want to read the book. Was that your intent?