Joel Soza – author of Food and God – Appearing at Barnes and Noble on Monday October 17

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Joel Soza

CANTON , OH (10/14/2011)(readMedia)-- Joel Soza, D.Th., associate professor of Old Testament at Malone University in Canton, OH, will be on hand for a book review / signing at Barnes and Noble Bookstore, located at 4015 Medina Road, Akron, OH 44333 Monday, October 17 at 6 p.m.

Dr. Soza is the author of Food and God: A Theological Approach to Eating, Diet, and Weight Control (Wipf & Stock Publishing).

About the book (from the publisher's website):

The central thesis of this book is that Western culture, and American culture in particular, needs an immediate change with regard to food and eating. Western over-indulgence is exacerbated by hunger and deprivation in the world. Learning to think theologically, and not just medically or psychologically, about one's eating habits will lead to positive personal and communal changes. In Food and God, Joel Soza offers readers a deeper understanding of Christian faith, one that will help them learn to think of eating as not merely a physical act, but as a spiritual exercise. Readers will become more aware of world need and preference for others while also learning how to improve their own health, control their own weight, and develop greater spiritual awareness and sensitivity in the daily and routine activity of eating. This book evaluates both Old and New Testaments, as well as some theology in the history of the Church, to arrive at an understanding of how one should think about food and eating in relationship to God and the world. The reader will learn of the key role food plays in the biblical creation and temptation narratives. They will learn of the enormous labor that went into food preparation in the ancient world, and what sages have had to say about food indulgence throughout time and many cultures. Finally, readers will encounter Jesus's invitation to think about food in spiritual ways, gaining an understanding as to what it means that Christianity is a movement with table fellowship at the forefront of its faith expression.

About the author:

Dr. Joel Soza is currently an associate professor of Old Testament at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. He has been a chaplain with the United States Navy Reserve, having earned his commission in 1991. He has held assignments with the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard. He was honorably discharged from the Chaplain Corps in Dec. of 2004. He presently serves the Christian church with his itinerant ministry called "Sh'ma Ministries", in which he preaches, teaches, ministers in music, as well as provides a wider array of ministry (e.g. published books for purchase, military chaplaincy perspective). Dr. Soza graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio with a B.S.B.A. in 1984 while simultaneously earning an honorable discharge from the enlisted ranks (combat arms) of the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He earned two Master of Arts degrees (both Cum Laude) from Ashland Theological Seminary: the first in Old Testament in 1993, and the second in New Testament in 1994. He also studied at the University of Durham in England in 1994/95 in the field of Old Testament theology, having eventually written a 95,000 word/242 page DTh thesis on the book of Jeremiah. Dr. Soza ultimately earned his DTh in Old Testament from the University of South Africa in 2005. Dr. Soza was ordained to the ministry through the Ohio District Council of the Assemblies of God in 1994. He has served the Assemblies of God as a Senior Pastor, Associate/Assistant Pastor, Youth Pastor, Christian Education Pastor, pulpit supply preacher, short-term missionary worker, and evangelist. He also writes worship songs, plays guitar, bass, harmonica, leads in congregational singing, and is an active student of piano/keyboards and voice. He has written, performed, recorded, and produced fourteen original worship songs, as well as released a single entitled, Your Perfect Rest. He continues to study the process of recording, mixing, and mastering music. Dr. Soza has published four academic articles for Inter-Varsity Press (IVP) reference works. A first article entitled 'Jeremiah', and a second entitled 'Lamentations' were written for the New Dictionary of Biblical Theology and were published in 2000. Two other articles were written for IVP's Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT) series. The first of these, published in 2003, was entitled 'Repentance', and went to market in the TDOT: Pentateuch volume. The second of these, 'Jeroboam', went to press in the TDOT: Historical Books volume in the fall of 2005. He contributed the devotional commentary notes on the Books of Jeremiah and Lamentations for the Abingdon's Press Wesley Study Bible released in January of 2009. He also published through Wipf and Stock a trade book entitled Food and God: A Theological Approach to Eating, Diet, and Weight Control in May of 2009. Dr. Soza is an active member in the Society of Biblical Literature and the Institute for Biblical Research. Dr. Soza's personal interests include: physical fitness, especially running and track and field, outdoor/recreational activities, gardening, aviation, music performance and recording, computers and technology, Spanish language, and general reading in a broad array of subjects. Dr. Soza and his wife Migdalia have been married since 1989, and are the parents of Joseph (born in 1993), and Shari (born in 2001). They presently reside in Louisville, Ohio.

Malone University, a Christian university for the arts, sciences, and professions in the liberal arts tradition, affiliated with the Evangelical Friends Church, awards both undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 100 academic programs. Malone is recognized by the prestigious Templeton Foundation as a leader in character development, named one of Northeast Ohio's Top Workplaces by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and is ranked among the top colleges and universities in the Midwest under the category Regional Universities according to U.S.News & World Report's America's Best Colleges 2012.

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