Ecclesiastes and Inspiration
How does the book of Ecclesiastes impact your view of inspiration? I’ll be asking folks to think about this in my Sunday School class at First UMC of Pensacola as we study Ecclesiastes. What do you think?
How does the book of Ecclesiastes impact your view of inspiration? I’ll be asking folks to think about this in my Sunday School class at First UMC of Pensacola as we study Ecclesiastes. What do you think?
Is there a resurrection in your future? In your near future? Often concerned Christians complain about the pagan background of Easter, and such practices as Easter eggs, bunny rabbits, and all the signs of spring. Pagan religions in many countries have celebrated spring and the new life that it represents. Fall and spring festivals celebrate…
These notes accompany the Bible Pacesetter Podcast Having Godly Faith. 20And as they were going by in the early morning they saw the fig tree, withered from the root. 21And Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi look! The fig tree you cursed is withered!” Unlike the story in Matthew, the withered fig tree is…
. . . has been posted at Everyday Liturgy. My submission for this carnival was one I wrote for wife’s devotional blog. Next week, I will be hosting the carnival here.
I was interested to see a quote about Biblical inerrancy for candidates for faculty positions at Wheaton College. Check the note out at Through a Glass Darkly.
Christian Carnival CLXIII has been posted at Chasing the Wind. That’s a pretty theme there, and it fits the title, but it’s bright!
… at Free Old Testament Audio. Surprisingly, considering how little I blogged last month and how much my 30 day Alexa number rose (not good!) I remain #9.
The simple answer is that it doesn’t affect my view of inspiration at all. It might do if I thought that inspiration meant that I could easily and trivially synthesise Ecclesiastes with, for instance, the Psalms of rejoicing (rather than those of lament) or the suggestions scattered throughout the New Testament that God will do loads of good things for the believer.
I’ve spent some of my life living psychologically in a Matt. 6 world and some living in an Ecclesiastes/Job world. The inspirations are appropriate to the situation in both cases.
Of course, Matt. 6:26ff and Ecclesiastes agree about living in the moment, even if they don’t agree about what might happen next. This isn’t a synthesis, though, it’s just advice which works independently of your situation.