Week 7 lecture notes unformatted

Week 7
Quiz
Message of Ecclesiastes 7-12
o Don’t think that being perfect is the answer. That’s no guarantee (7:16); rather, fear God: recognize his sovereignty and that He is in control (7:18).
o Don’t think that being perfectly wise is the answer, either: You’ll never be wise enough to figure it all out (7:23–29; 8:16–17). God made us.
o Life is full of things we don’t control: Kings, winds, death, conscription (8:2–9); battles, food, riches, favor, disaster (9:11–12). Time and chance happen to us all.
o Still, do what you can. In general, it helps to be wise, be calm, be kind, be generous, work hard (10–11). Just don’t place your trust in your own self and what you do (11:6).
Ecclesiastes as God’s Word
· What do we mean by “God’s Word”?
· In what way can we think of Ecclesiastes as God’s Word?
· EBC Tenet of Faith #1:
“The Holy Scriptures as originally given by God, divinely inspired, infallible, entirely trustworthy and the only supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.”
· Core Values #1:
“Our core values stem from the conviction that God has graciously revealed Himself in time and space, through His Son Jesus Christ and by His Holy Spirit. The inspired Christian Scriptures awaken and attune humankind to the past, present and future work of God. All aspects of our institutional life are to be shaped by and measured against biblical revelation.”
Revelation, Inspiration, Authority, and Canon
By “Revelation” and “Inspiration” do we mean:
· Verbal Inspiration: God dictated Ecclesiastes to someone who wrote about Qohelet (in Hebrew)?
· God placed the ideas into the author's mind, and let him choose the words?
· God’s spirit is in every person committed to following Him, and therefore the author was inspired as they tried to express the things in Ecclesiastes?
· Natural Revelation: God revealed things about Himself in creation, and the author recognized these and expressed them in Ecclesiastes?
· God inspires the text as we read it, if we try to hear His voice in the text?
By “infallible”, “trustworthy”, and “authority” do we mean:
· Ecclesiastes has guarantees from God?
· Ecclesiastes never says anything contradictory?
· We should obey Ecclesiastes’ advice literally?
· The point behind each proverb and poem is true?
· The overall worldview of Ecclesiastes is correct?
· We give Ecclesiastes authority when we guide our lives by something we read in it?
Limitations of the sage
· Proverbs can seem optimistic (3:11–12)
· The reader recognizes that life isn’t so predictable. Job and Ecclesiastes question the predictability directly. (So does Proverbs, in 16:9; 21:30; 30:2–3)
· Ecclesiastes seems to like pointing out ambiguities
· Wisdom sayings, by nature, are not final; they prod one to further thought (Ecclesiastes 12:11).
· Wisdom literature conceals as much as it reveals. A saying can only be a partial truth, and other sayings are needed to complement it. “He who hesitates is lost” / “Look before you leap”
Break
Paper proposal due.
Qohelet and his contradictions: unorthodox, foil or complex?
What does Qohelet say that makes his theology suspect?
1. Life is a miserable evil (4:2), yet we should enjoy life (9:4)
2. Life is vanity, yet it matters how we act (2:13)
3. Life is unfair (2:14), yet God will reward and punish righteously
How can we explain the apparent contradictions?
1. Is Qohelet's teaching presented as an example of incorrect thinking, which was edited later to correct it (e.g., by adding the last chapter)?
· If so, the editor did not do a good job of removing the unorthodox statements or counter-balancing them.
· The last chapter says the same things Qohelet has been saying all along
· The last chapter commends Qohelet; saying only good things about him and his teaching.
2. Is Ecclesiastes written in the form of a dialogue between someone who is right and someone who is wrong?
· We see no indication of dialogue or changes of characters.
· The autobiographical parts in chapters 1 and 2 cannot be dialogues, yet they contain the same apparent contradictions.
3. Is Qohelet talking only about life "without God" when he speaks pessimistically? Is this what "under the sun" means?
· Life "under the sun" does not mean life "without God" (5:18; 9:9, 11), though it may mean this life "on earth" as opposed to what may happen after death (about which Qohelet is vague).
4. Does Qohelet seem to contradict himself because life is not always consistent and there are no pat answers?
· Proverbs does this, in e.g., 26:4–5.
5. Is Qohelet really contradicting himself?
· A few times, technically yes, e.g., whether it's better to be dead or alive.
· But these apparent contradictions must be read in their contexts, in light of the point Qohelet is trying to make.
· A proper understanding of hebel makes a huge difference. He is not saying everything is totally "meaningless;" he is saying everything is not to be "grasped" (i.e., controlled, considered permanent or substantial or even predictable).
Review of Ecclesiastes.
Points to remember:
· Ecclesiastes is not empty, nor is it complete.
· Wisdom has two branches: practical (Proverbs) and speculative (Job, Ecclesiastes).
· Proverbs focuses on the typical, Ecclesiastes on the atypical.
· The Hebrew word translated “evil” does not always carry moral connotations (a natural disaster is an “evil”).
· Qohelet says contradictory things (4:2 vs. 9:4). Why?
o Later editors tried to correct his unorthodoxy? No: they didn’t do a good job.
o Qohelet quoted his opponents’ viewpoints in order to refute them? No: there are no indications of quoting.
o He expresses things that are partially true (like Proverbs does). Yes. This means the danger of taking a verse out of context is especially high!
· Structure
o attempts have been made to find a structure
o none are really convincing
o Better: just follow the flow of the book, with its repetitive cycles.
· Forms:
o “Better than” 7:1–11; 9:16–10:1
o Royal Testament (like Egypt)
o rhetorical questions
· Poetry:
o Most can be divided into poetic, parallel, lines with some rhythm
o However, other characteristics of poetry (lack of particles, terseness) are absent.
· Narrative: For example, “I hated life” (7:17) does not mean life is hateful.
· Addressees: Male (9:9); young (11:9); some wealth.
· Theology:
o God is never called Yahweh; only Elohim.
o not atheist or agnostic
o God is in control
o Life goes better for those who please God
o God is transcendent and incomprehensible but reasonable and trustworthy.
· Relevance: Like today, Ecclesiastes deals with:
o Responding to tradition
o Relationship of individual to community
o faithful living even when God is problematic
o Greed (work as toil rather than calling); the rat-race.
o Human limitations (vs. post-modernism, which promotes create our own reality).
For Next Quiz:
Fee & Stuart 226–230Provan 235–256