God-Given Food: A Bible Study and Beyond
by Celia Maria
Anyone who has participated in a church supper or snacks after a church service will recognize the need for this book. As Maria explains, among church-goers you will find two very different attitudes about food: one is that every kind of food is acceptable to eat, as long as a blessing is said over it—this is the attitude that loads the after-church snack table with sugary processed food and sees no problem in allowing children to stuff themselves with donuts, cookies and cupcakes; the other holds that we should eat the “original diet plan” given in Genesis of only plant foods.
Moved by all the illness she has observed among church-goers, Maria provides a third way for her fellow Christians to eat—one inspired by the work of the Weston A. Price Foundation. She begins with an excellent discussion of veganism, the diet appropriate for the Garden of Eden, but not for mankind after the fall. She provides diagrams of the digestive systems of various types of animals and of the human being. Our digestive systems are most like that of the pig—an omnivore. Later in the book she quotes more scripture to show that Christians can eat animal foods—starting with God’s command to Noah to eat meat.
Knowing that she will meet resistance, Maria treads carefully, showing that healthy food actually tastes good and does not have to be weird. She provides a great chart for “replacements”: whole eggs for breakfast instead of cold cereal, homemade soaked oatmeal instead of instant oatmeal, fruit instead of donuts. She provides an ingredient list for each processed food—horrendous ingredients in chicken nuggets, fast food burgers, commercial bread, processed cheese, canned broth and soup, frozen fries, artificial maple syrup, storebought dressings and pickles—as a way of convincing families to opt for healthy replacements—baked chicken with spices, grass-fed burgers, raditional breads, real cheese, homemade soups and broths, real maple syrup, homemade dressing and lacto-fermented foods. She addresses the excuses most people have—I don’t like to cook, I don’t have time to prepare healthy meals, I can’t afford to eat healthy—and provides scriptural arguments for taking joy in the activity of cooking, making time to cook and spending money wisely.
Maria’s book includes discussion of all the burning questions in the field of nutrition: animal fats and cholesterol; grains; fermented foods, dairy foods, broth and soups; and salt. And kudos for finding this wonderful passage from Job (Maria knows her Bible!): “Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me” (Job 6:6-7). My sentiments exactly!
Each chapter ends with summary bullet points, relevant passages from scripture and questions for the reader. Finally Maria provides us with a great collection of basic recipes. For those wondering how to bring the message of healthy food to a church congregation yet to understand that putting processed foods into the body temple is like taking a sledge hammer to the church furnishings, this book is an excellent way to begin. Thumbs up!
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly magazine of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Spring 2018.
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Thank you Sally!
I understand about “snacks after a church service” (consisting of sweet rolls and coffee) that apparently none of us church-goers ever gave a thought to at that time. In my life, “that was then” (forty-eight years ago ; ~ ) and now those days are like some kind of faded dream that I could never possibly return to. (Thank God!) Nevertheless I do feel compassion for others who may still live in their “dream” (apparently) of nary a thought to the church’s coffee hour. Good thing the churches have their scriptures (if only they would acknowledge the dietary wisdom).
Maybe there is a “hundredth monkey” effect to be had if enough of us who can relate to this would in our own way “praise the Lord” by regarding the wisdom of His Word and especially by enjoying eating all the good food that is in accord with “the laws of nature and of nature’s God”[1].
I wonder whether Celia Maria gives presentations to Churches. My idealism easily imagines an introduction by Celia followed by a Nourishing Traditions dinner in the form of a potluck hosted by local WAP Chapter members. I am reasonably certain that such an event would make positive impressions!
I appreciate the Job quote. In “The Living Bible”[2] the quote reads: “… a man complains when there is no salt in his food. And how tasteless is the uncooked white of an egg – my appetite is gone when I look at it; I gag at the thought of eating it!”
[1] Declaration of Independence.
[2] “Paraphrased – A Thought-For-Thought Translation; Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois.
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Well said Chef Jem, and I share your feelings! I do have opportunity from time to time to give presentations to church folks. Their reception and follow through is always a mixed bag…You might enjoy reading this article, which I wrote 9 years ago expressing this frustration.
I’m so thrilled a Bible Study has been written for Health and Wellness. I ordered the book as soon as I read about Celia Marie. I found a video on utube that sealed the deal. What a blessing for our Life Groups.
Thank You,
Judy Bice
Go Keto – mainly carnivore, grass fed. lot’s on sun on the animals and you get the Vitamin D after ingesting, Avooid processed: especially HFCS and Sugar – in almost all processed now =adays,