Ecclesiastes Research Paper

Ecclesiastes is a much debated book of the Bible. Many ancient scholars viewed its theology as unsound and found the topic of the book to be too cynical to be of any use. Ecclesiastes is thought to be a book full of negativity that is not a favorite of Christian teachers. However, Ecclesiastes is full of insight and important theology that is incredibly useful to the Christian church. To understand the value of Ecclesiastes to the Christian church, one must first understand the writing of the book. The wisdom of the book comes from someone referred to as “Qoheleth”. It has been assumed to mean “teacher” or “preacher” when compared to similar verbs in translation. Traditionally, Qoheleth has been identified as Solomon as a result of the information given in the first two verses that refer to this person as the “son of David, king of Jerusalem”. There are sections such as in 2:1-11 that support Qoheleth as Solomon while other sections such as 1:16 and 2:9 say just the opposite. There is enough evidence against Qoheleth as Solomon that is cannot be decisively concluded that Solomon is for certain “Qoheleth”. Regardless, we can
The retribution principle is a major theme. In Ecclesiastes, it is discussed as revealing something about God rather than guaranteeing God’s actions. If we live a righteous life, we will be blessed; if we live a wicked life, we will suffer. This is not always true as we recognize in life today as a church. Many of the most righteous people live lives of suffering and hardship which causes us to question God. Another major theme is Epicureanism versus Piety. This is essentially saying that we shouldn’t “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die”, but we also shouldn't live lives of fatalism and cynicism. We need to find a middle-ground and enjoy life while fearing God. Being a Christian does not disqualify us from an enjoyable