Cup Overflowing: Wine’s Place in Faith, Feasting, and Fellowship

by Gisela H. Kreglinger

Have you ever wondered what Jesus would drink? Was his family perhaps involved in growing vines and making wine? What would their family celebrations have been like? And what might this tell us about God and how he wants us to live today? Food and wine have become such hot topics in our culture, and yet there is so much confusion and ambivalence around it as well. We are so far removed from the world of the Bible and the agrarian life that it represents. It is hard to envision the farms and fruit orchards, the village wells and sheep herds, the olive groves and vineyards that Jesus would have walked by every day.

Wine is the most talked-about food in the Bible, and yet so much of the evangelical world has neglected this important biblical theme and fragrant gift of God. Drawing on her upbringing in a long-standing family tradition of winemakers and her degrees in biblical studies and spiritual theology, Gisela Kreglinger introduces readers in a light-hearted way to the theme of wine in the Bible, throughout the history of the church, and in the church's feasting and fellowship today. She also addresses how many Christians are fearful or concerned about wine because of the challenges of alcohol abuse, how to nurture a culture of healing from such disorders, and how we are called to celebrate God's gift of wine to grow into a fuller understanding of the gospel as we await the return of the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. In this book, Gisela shows Christians that wine is a gift from God that we are to receive with gratitude and enjoy in wholesome, communal, and redemptive ways.

237 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 22, 2024

About the author

Gisela Kreglinger grew up on a family-owned winery in Franconia, Germany where her family has been crafting wine for many generations. This unique experience has inspired her to write a book about the spirituality of wine.

She holds a PhD in historical theology from the University of St. Andrews and in this book Gisela has woven together her passions for Christian spiritualty and the wonderful and mysterious world of wine.

Reviews

[Haley Baumeister · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation. Through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink."

"Do we have noses attuned to smell, and tongues ready to attend to this incredible bounty? Many—if not most—of us were never taught how to smell and taste salvation. We were taught only how to think and feel about it. We read about it, hear about it, sing about it, and feel about it... but to draw on our senses of touch, smell, and taste—to understand and experience God's goodness? There is a long history as to why we pay so little attention to these senses."

I loved this. My husband and I quite randomly listened to an interview Gisela did on the Mars Hill Audio Journal, coming home from church one day. He then bought me a copy of her previous book, "The Spirituality of Wine" which I have yet to read (why is that specific one not available on audio??)

There are rich themes in here touching on church history, agriculture, being created as sensual & communal people, the modern problem of artificial, cheap substances which dull our senses to the robustness of the real, and why this matters for the spiritual life—as we are not "brains on sticks" and the things we experience sensually ought to truly matter. I also appreciated her caveats on alcohol as it's been created, consumed, and approached across times and cultures. The emphasis on savoring wine in the context of both worship and also hospitable community (around dinner tables, with food and convivial conversation) was also a key takeaway for me. It is not good for us to be—or drink—alone. The antidote to mindless or overconsumption of subpar alcohol is not always to do without (though it might be). The antidote is to truly savor a good drink, and the food, people, and God who gives it all to us in love. This book made me want to pay more attention to how *all* the senses can be an avenue of worship and thanksgiving—on both a personal and communal level.

This would pair well with Andrew Wilson's book "God of All Things.” It opens your eyes to the physical world in ways that, while not always specifically sacramental, do indeed speak volumes about their Creator — the God who wants us to know Him through this abundant world.

[Leah Kathryn Venable · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me 6 months to read it, but honestly it was because I savored this book, like a great glass of wine or a fantastic meal. Rushing through would not have done it justice, and I plan to eventually read it again, along with other works of Gisela’s. I heard her speak live before reading, and I’m so glad I did because I read it hearing her voice and passion for wine, community, and savoring Jesus.

[Caleb Hegg · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a huge disappointment.
Red flags went up in the introduction when the author makes a passing statement that Jesus drank 4 cups of wine at His Last Supper. While many will not find no problem with such a statment, the Jewish passover tradition had yet to be established and the multiple cups found within the symposium were not a set number. This little statement showed that the author was not approaching her thesis from scholarly materials and had neglected the research on Greco-Roman meals as a whole.
While the author certainly knows about wine production as she grew up on a vineyard, most statements seem to be taken from the wants and imagination of the author instead of solid evidence. For instance, the idea that Jesus would have celebrated the grape harvest at the grape press in His city comes with no footnote or any reference at all to such tradition in any ANE city, nor does it seem to be supported by any evidence. This does not mean that it isn't true, but our author has decided that evidence for such a statement is not needed nor is her audience expecting good references for the claims being made.
From the surrounding wine industry of Jesus' city, the author decides that Jesus would have had a vast knowledge of wine production as it would have been a natural part of His day to day life. Once again, we are not given any reference to the common person in the first-century having any kind of knowledge of wine production.
Another example would be the statement that the six jars of water that Jesus turned to wine would have held 640 to 960 bottles of wine. This would be a very interesting fact if there was any reference to archeological findings of water purification jugs that would hold such amounts or any footnote or reference at all. Rather, our author leaves it as a statement that seems to come from her imagination.
As someone who has a focus of study in meals in the ANE, I fully admit that I was looking for something more scholarly, but this author was writing for a different audience, and possibly thought that too many footnotes or references would disrupt the flow of the work, but nonetheless, in making such claims with no references, it makes the book feel like it is a journey through the wonderful imagination of the author instead of a true exploration of wine in the ANE and its significance in the Bible.

[Aris Slabaugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s possible that this is a victim of my very high expectations, but at every turn, I found that this book fell bafflingly short of its potential. I instead recommend Robert Capon’s The Supper of the Lamb and the episode of Undeceptions that features Gisela Kreglinger: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...