John R. Ballew is a licensed professional counselor and writer at the website bodymindsoul.org, which focuses on spirituality and mental health for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. He lives in Atlanta. He says that too often religion makes it difficult for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people to accept themselves — a situation that can […]

Dr. Don Colbert is a Christian nutritionist and dietitian who wrote What Would Jesus Eat?: The Ultimate Program for Eating Well, Feeling Great and Living Longer and The What Would Jesus Eat Cookbook (both from Thomas Nelson, 2002). He says that following a Mediterranean diet – full of the grains and vegetables known in Jesus’ time – can eliminate obesity. He […]

The Rev. George Malkmus is the founder of the Hallelujah Diet and Hallelujah Acres, a Shelby, N.C.-based Christian vegetarian and health ministry that promotes Bible-based diet and nutrition.

Mary Louise Bringle is chair of the humanities division of Brevard College in Brevard, N.C. She wrote of her eating disorder in “Confessions of a Glutton” in the Oct. 25, 1989, issue of The Christian Century.

Tami Coyne and Karen Weissman are known as “The Spiritual Chicks” and are authors of The Spiritual Chicks Question Everything: Learn to Risk, Release and Soar (Red Wheel, 2003). In the book, they discuss whether God loves fat people and conclude that God does. Both Chicks live in New York City.

Carol Showalter is the author of 3D: Diet, Discipline and Discipleship (Paraclete Press, 2002) and is a member of the Community of Jesus. She is the founder of the 3D Plan, a Christian lifestyle group.

Lael Atkinson is pastor of Payson Park United Church of Christ in Belmont, Mass. In 2003, she delivered a sermon about America as a culture that consumes too much of everything, including food.

Ravindra S. Khare is a professor of anthropology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He has written about Hindu gastrosemantics.

Francine Prose is the author of 10 books, including Gluttony, part of the “Seven Deadly Sins” series (Oxford University Press, 2003). She is a distinguished writer in residence at Bard College in New York. She lives in New York City.