Philosophical reflection in the Bible – The purpose of life according to Ecclesiastes ( 傳道書 ) Craig Ho, HKBU

Eccles2 傳道書 (Ecclesiastes) w Central Issue: What is all live’s hard work for? What do we really get? w Key word and idea: “vanity”, what does it mean? w Emptiness? Meaningless? Purposelessness? Worthlessness? Incomprehensibility? Cannot be completely grasped - reality is illusive! w History has no definite goal; things just repeat themselves and therefore purposeless: ; 2.12  What are not the purposes of life? w Human desire cannot be really satisfied and therefore worthless: w The pursuit of wisdom cannot be the goal of life because death annihilate the difference between a wise man and a fool:

Eccles3 What are not the purposes of life? w Accumulation of wealth will be left to the next generation who does not earn it. That shouldn’t be the purpose of our own life: w The pursuit of righteousness may not be the best way of life: There is no justice in real life, Why the meaning of life always eludes us? w Human life is not so unique: w Suffering destroy meaning - dead people sometimes are better than suffering people: 4.1-8; w There is a limit to human understanding:

Eccles4... w The only constancy in life is death. It renders all differences meaningless: w Life does not follow a simple principle: : 9:11 我又轉念：見日光之下，快跑的未必能贏 ；力戰的未必得 勝；智慧的未必得糧食；明哲的未必得資財；靈巧的未必得喜悅 。所臨到眾人的是在乎當時的機會。 9:12 原來人也不知道自己的 定期。魚被惡網圈 住，鳥被網羅捉住，禍患忽然臨到的時候， 世人陷在其中也是如此。 w The way of God is beyond our intellectual capacity: 9.1; 11.5

Eccles5 How should we then live? - theme statements: (A) 2:24 人莫強如吃喝，且在勞碌中享福，我看這也是出 於神的手 (B) 3:12 我知道世人，莫強如終身喜樂行善； 3:13 並且人 人吃喝，在他一切勞碌中享福，這也是神的恩賜。 (C)3:22 故此，我見人莫強如在他經營的事上喜樂，因為 這是他的分。他身後的事誰能使他回來得見呢？

Eccles6... (D) 5:18 我所見為善為美的，就是人在神賜他一生的日子 吃喝，享 受日光之下勞碌得來的好處，因為這是他的分。 5:19 神賜人資財 豐富，使他能以吃用，能取自己的分 ， 在他勞碌中喜樂，這乃 是神的恩賜。 (E) 8:15 我就稱讚快樂，原來人在日光之下，莫強如吃喝快 樂；因 為他在日光之下，神賜他一生的年日，要從勞碌中，時常享受所 得的。 (F) 9:7 你只管去歡歡喜喜吃你的飯，心中快樂喝你的酒，因為神已 經悅納你的作為。 9:8 你的衣服當時常潔白，你頭上也不要缺少 膏油。 9:9 在你一生虛空的年日，就是 神賜你在日 光之下虛空 的年日，當同你所愛的妻，快活度日，因為那是你生前在日光之 下勞碌的事上所得的分。

Eccles7...  11:9 少年人哪，你在幼年時當快樂。在幼年的日子，使你的心歡 暢，行你心所願行的，看你眼所愛看的；卻要知道，為這一切的 事，神必審問你。  11:10 所以，你當從心中除掉愁煩，從肉體克去邪惡；因為一生 的開端和幼年之時，都是虛空的。  12:1 你趁  年幼、衰敗的日子尚未來到，就是你所說，我毫無喜 樂的那些年日未曾臨近之先，當記念造你的主。  12:12 我兒，還有一層，你當受勸戒：著書多，沒有窮盡；讀書 多，身體疲倦。 12:13 這些事都已聽見了，總意就是：敬畏神， 謹守他的誡命，這是人所當盡的本分［或譯：這是眾人的本分］ 。

Eccles8 The reasoning of the preacher. w What do you think is the purpose of (your) life? w Is this question too distant? Too abstract? Any point to raise it now? w The preacher (author of Eccles.) is seeking the meaning and purpose of life.  First observation : Things just repeat themselves and do not seem to show any purpose  Conclusion : “vanity” - cannot be fully grasped, just like wind. You feel it but you cannot control it. This is life.

Eccles9...  Second observation : Hard life from God ; 3.10  Reason : all attempts to satisfy life fails - material ( ); philosophical ( ); wealth ( ); w Even the purpose of righteousness ( ) is not always fruitful. Why? Because we do not live in a just world ( )  Third observation: We know very little. The only thing we know for sure in the world that is death which destroys all differences and all meanings (9.1-6).  Reason : The deep things about the world is beyond our reach (9.1).

Eccles10...  Fourth observation : Reality does not follow a simple principle to operate ( ). w An example:  Final question : What should guide us in our life?  Final answer : Fear and remember God (12.1; 13) and enjoy life responsibly ( ) w Do not wait until it is too late.

Eccles11 Conclusion w 1. The most real thing in life is working hard and enjoying (playing) hard. w 2. It is divine purpose that we all works and live and enjoy the fruit of our labour. w 3. We have to enjoy life responsibly because God will judge how we live our lives at the end of the day.