BOTH SIDES NOW
Ecclesiastes and the human condition
By Peter Barnes. Banner of Truth. 104 pages. £5.25
ISBN 0 85151 884 2
Ecclesiastes may not be at the top of the favourites list for many, yet here we find it put to thoroughly good use.
This is not a commentary on Ecclesiastes, but the writer critiques and corrects many of the ways in which our world pursues satisfaction, by tracing the themes that are woven throughout the biblical book. It aims to help those who are perplexed by the futility and emptiness of life. Routes to satisfaction and meaning, such as worldly wisdom, pleasure-seeking, workaholism (defined as respectable idolatry), money, perfection, religion, are all addressed, and their strict limitations carefully described, with a wealth of contemporary illustration, as well as historical references.
