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all addressed, and their strict limitations carefully described, with a wealth of contemporary illustration, as well as historical references.
Some of the consolations of life in this world, such as friendship, work, and enjoyment, as well as their limitations, are noted (and recommended!), and a thankful heart approved, rather than a cynical one. The issue of death as the final measure of the futility of life is dealt with and the power of the resurrection of Christ as the only antidote is clearly taught. ‘Life is not just futility on futility. In Christ there is all that we need — forgiveness, power, meaning, and life everlasting.’
The emptiness of modern reasoning is thoroughly exposed, and the reader constantly and sensitively pointed in the direction of truth, and especially of gospel truth. As a book both to help the believer understand how Ecclesiastes continues to reveal the emptiness of the thinking of the world, and to give to a thinking non-Christian, this is recommended.
