Smith uses the Old and New Testaments as a wellspring for a creative cookbook of more than 100 recipes based on, for the most part, ingredients used in biblical times. Of course, as an ordained Methodist minister, he seizes on the opportunity to explain the use of food allegories and symbolism in the Bible and to bemoan contemporary Americans' lack of communal feasts and their reliance on packaged foods. That gentle sermon sparks his tenth culinary collection, centered on grains, vegetables, fruits, and dairy products and highlighted by only a handful of meat and poultry items. Although few dishes are truly new, many are appearing for the first time in a mass-market cookbook. Barbara Jacobs