[LittleBigGamer]

Well I recently read Ecclesiastes, and I got really confused. Was Solomon just complaining about everything, or promoting God being the only importance? I'm thinking he could be in a bad mood from his wives affecting him a bad way, but it could go for promoting God to because of verse 13 and 14 of chapter 12 ("Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." Go Bible Gateway! ). I'm just hoping for someone who is confused too so we can discuss or someone who understands. Thanks!

For future reference: You might see me asking things like this a lot on my quest to reading the whole Bible.


~LittleBigGamer

[boyward]

I think Ecclesiastes is written by Solomon as an old man looking back on his life and all the things he's dabbled in. He's seen all the world has to offer and he's been disappointed by all of it. So in the end his conclusion is what you quoted in 12:13-14.

[LittleBigGamer]

boyward, on 14 November 2009 - 10:24 PM, said:

I think Ecclesiastes is written by Solomon as an old man looking back on his life and all the things he's dabbled in. He's seen all the world has to offer and he's been disappointed by all of it. So in the end his conclusion is what you quoted in 12:13-14.

Thanks, that book was confusing .

~LittleBigGamer

[Red Five]

LittleBigGamer, on 14 November 2009 - 09:36 PM, said:

For future reference: You might see me asking things like this a lot on my quest to reading the whole Bible.


~LittleBigGamer

No worries. Questions are good. Your thirst for knowledge is encouraging; I don't often see it among your age group.
Anyway, boyward is right. And Ecclesiastes is, overall, something that's better understood once you're older and have "been there," so to speak.

[LittleBigGamer]

Red Five, on 15 November 2009 - 12:40 PM, said:

No worries. Questions are good. Your thirst for knowledge is encouraging; I don't often see it among your age group.
Anyway, boyward is right. And Ecclesiastes is, overall, something that's better understood once you're older and have "been there," so to speak.

Thanks! Yeah, I am still in the immature stages, but I've been working toward being mature by reading the Bible more often and stuff.

~LittleBigGamer

[Jadyn]

I've always thought Ecclesiastes was a thought experiment, positing a universe where God wasn't God or wasn't real. It was written as a philosophical argument. It basically says "Ok ok, so lets just say, for the sake of argument, that you're right, and God isn't real. If that is true, then..." and so on and so forth.


That's just my take on it.

[JadesFire]

Jadyn, on 19 November 2009 - 04:22 PM, said:

I've always thought Ecclesiastes was a thought experiment, positing a universe where God wasn't God or wasn't real. It was written as a philosophical argument. It basically says "Ok ok, so lets just say, for the sake of argument, that you're right, and God isn't real. If that is true, then..." and so on and so forth.


That's just my take on it.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious... It's ancient near eastern wisdom literature.

[Colonel Link]

This is an interesting (short-ish) analysis.