“God has laid a miserable fate upon us. I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind” (1:14,15).
This is just one of many difficult verses in this book. For example, is there really a time to hate and a time to kill?
Is it true that “Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny” (6:10).
What about Solomon’s words that “there is one good man in a thousand, but never have I found a good woman”? (7:24).
What about his thoughts on the afterlife? “There is no way for us to know what will happen after we die” (3:22).
And finally, what about this theology? “God controls the actions of the wise and righteous people, even their love and their hate…The same fate comes to the rightous and the wicked, to the good and the bad, to those who are religious and those who are not…a good persion is no better off than a sinner…” (9:1,2).
If all scripture is “God breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), what are we to make of this book?
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