Bart D. Ehrman by God's Problem

Author:God's Problem [Problem, God's]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

What do people gain from all the

toil

at which they toil under the

sun?

A generation goes, and a

generation

comes,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises and the sun goes

down,

and hurries to the place where it

rises.

191

Does Suffering Make Sense?

The wind blows to the south,

and goes around to the north;

round and round goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind

returns. . . .

All things are wearisome;

more than one can express;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

or the ear filled with hearing.

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what

will

be

done;

there is nothing new under the

sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has already been

in the ages before us.

The people of long ago are not

remembered,

nor will there be any

remembrance

of people yet to come

by those who come after them. (Eccles. 1:1–6, 8–11) The key term here is vanity. All of life is vanity. It passes by quickly, and then is gone. The Hebrew word is hevel, a word that can also be translated “emptiness,” “absurdity,” “uselessness.” Hevel literally refers to a mist that evaporates, so that its root idea is something like “fleeting,” “ephemeral.” The word occurs about thirty times in this relatively short book. For this author, everything in the world is ephemeral and destined soon to pass away—even we ourselves. Placing ultimate value and putting ultimate importance in the things of this world is useless, vain; all things are fleeting, ephemeral.

192

G O D ’ S P R O B L E M

In the guise of Solomon, this author indicates that he tried everything in order to make life meaningful. He sought for great wisdom, he indulged himself in pleasure, he engaged in large building projects, he accumulated masses of possessions (Eccles. 1:16–

2:23); but then he reflected on the meaning of it all: “I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (Eccles. 2:11). Despite being rich, wise, and famous, he “hated life” (Eccles. 2:17) and gave his “heart up to despair” (Eccles. 2:20). In the end he drew his conclusion:

“There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil” (Eccles. 2:24). It is not that the Teacher (Qoheleth) had given up on God or on life; on the contrary, he thought that enjoying the simple things of life (your food and drink, your work, your spouse) comes “from the hand of God”

(Eccles. 2:24). But even these things are fleeting and ephemeral:

“vanity and chasing after wind” (Eccles. 2:26).

Here is a biblical author I can relate to. Look around and consider everything you work so hard for, everything that you hope to accomplish in life. Suppose you pursue wealth and become fabulously rich. In the end you die, and someone else inherits your wealth (Eccles. 6:1–2). Suppose you want to leave your wealth to your children. Well, that’s fine. But they too will die, as will their children, and the children after them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.