"Utterly meaningless," exclaims the author of Ecclesiastes, a supposed descendent of David, as he jumps to his pessimistic philosophy regarding life on Earth. It can be inferred from these opening lines of text that the subject matter of the "Teacher" will be on how we can find purpose in our lives. The first chapter serves as an example of how life, at first glance, may be interpreted as mere vanity. Using many illustrations from nature he draws the conclusion that life is empty, repetitive, and ceaseless; nothing is new. Each day the sun rises and falls, just to climb back up the following day to fall again like it did each day previous to it. The monotonous series of natural occurrences produce an incessant, wearisome rhythm. Comparing it to an attempt to grasp the wind, he finds the accumulation of wisdom to generate similar conclusions about the futility of man and life. Because the words of the "Teacher" in this first chapter make no reference to God, it can be speculated that......
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Approximate Word Count: 963
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |