Come to the Banquet

Seeking Wisdom in a Genetically Engineered Earth

Abstract

Many scientists will claim that there is a sense in which we become what we eat. But an analysis of eating and drinking as an exchange of energy is just one approach. In many religions, including Christianity, sharing in a communal meal has profound religious significance. How, then, might we approach the very rapid changes that are taking place in the genetic engineering of food? Does this impinge on our religious sensitivities in this area? I will argue in this paper that we must first of all become much more aware of the details of the kind of genetic engineering of food that is taking place. Secondly, we need to become much more conscious of the way food functions in a religious understanding of reality in order to come to an adequate assessment. While there are many dimensions of the latter that I could explore, I have chosen to focus on the biblical invitations to eat and drink, most particularly the invitation of Wisdom to the banquet in Proverbs 9, as a lens through which to approach this issue from a theological perspective.