An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 132: Zombie-Fighting Steampunk Cowboys. Oh, and some Bible stuff too (Ecclesiastes 1-6)

Ecclesiastes 1-6
Zombie-Fighting Steampunk Cowboys. Oh, and some Bible stuff too.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT

For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Ecclesiastes 1

“Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”

Now that’s more like it, some good rolling poetry again. The figure of The Preacher, who is presumably Solomon, sets forth his experiences with setting out to attaining wisdom and, well, it’s not happy reading.

Before getting into that, I love the idea of the Preacher; it makes me think of some mysterious craggy figure in a duster and a black Stetson, dishing out summary law in a steampunk version of the Old West. With zombies. “Here endeth the lesson,” he drawls as he blasts the last undead gunfighter with a ridiculously over-large multi-barrel shotgun. But I digress. [Edit: I discovered afterwards that there is a graphic novel series called The Preacher, written by Garth Ennis. Which I now need to check out.]

It feels like Solomon has adopted the persona of the Preacher at the end of his life – there is a tired and jaded feel to the words here, not only in the famous line given in the quote above, but also in another line from this chapter that has made its way into common speech – there is nothing new under the sun.

In his search for wisdom the Preacher has come to the opinion that nothing changes and all attempts at earthly riches or the pursuit of wisdom are mere vanity. As well as knowledge and wisdom, the preacher has sought madness and folly; the implication seems to be in order to know all sides of things, which is an interesting thought. And kids, if you’re in trouble at school, try quoting verse 18 “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.”

Ecclesiastes 2

“I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.”

The Preacher expands upon his thoughts of the previous chapter. In his life he sought enjoyment in life; wine, women and song, basically, but also built great works, grew gardens and gathered riches, but then he saw that these would all come to nothing when he died. The preacher realises that a dead king is, in the end, no different to a dead beggar (c.f. Death the Leveller by John Dunne). Even the search for wisdom seems folly, although he considers it better than worldly goods, since it cannot be passed on. And what can be passed on, who knows if the inheritor is wise or a fool? (In this case, Rehoboam turns out to be a poor inheritor).

So this looks to be another book of misery, like Job. I have to say, there’s an awful lot of death and sorrow in the bible so far, I’m finding it hard to understand how some people can find comfort in these parts of it. I mean, good for them if they can, but I find it largely depressing. Mind you, this chapter does end with the thought that the best thing to do in life is to eat, and drink, and enjoy what you’ve got.

Ecclesiastes 3

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”

The first half of this chapter quotes Pete Seeger almost verbatim. No, wait, it’s probably the other way around now that I think about. A time for war and a time for peace. And so on. I can see why this was turned into a song, it has a good rhythm to the language and almost rhymes in places. It’s also very even-handed in its treatment of a lot of things, using the natural cycle of the seasons and the farming calendar (“A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which was sown”) with all aspects of life (“A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing”). I’m not sure it really means anything when you break it down, or if so the meaning is lost on me yet again, but it sound profound at least.

The second half of this chapter kind of expands upon the lot of a mortal man on the scale perceived by God – in the grand scheme of things he is nothing but it is good to appreciate the world that God has created even if you will never understand everything. I can get behind that sentiment. This chapter also prefigures Darwin by a long margin; “For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast”. Interesting that opposition to the concept of evolution should have come from religious grounds when it’s possible to find scriptural arguments that, in fact, man is no different to the other animals.

Ecclesiastes 4

“Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?”

There’s a real existentialist, or humanist, thread running through the Preacher’s philosophy. Again he returns to how all is vanity, but once again he ameliorates this with earthly, rather than spiritual, solaces. In this case the benefits of companionship are expounded upon, how two are better than one for sharing work and helping one another. Although the quote may seem to imply marriage of man and wife the discussion is broader than this – it could equally be two travelling companions sharing warmth in the desert, for example.

Ecclesiastes 5

“Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.”

This chapter returns to some of the ideas at the start of Proverbs, about it being better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, and better to keep quiet than talk nonsense. It also repeats the ideas about the best thing in life is to enjoy the fruits of your labour, very much an Arts and Crafts kind of thinking; Solomon lauds the life of a simple worker who sleeps well because he has done a good day’s work, or who has something at the end of the day he can look on with joy. Which is all very well but it sounds like a king’s romanticised view of the lot of the working man, like Marie Antoinette playing at being a shepherdess in her fake hameau at Verseailles.

Ecclesiastes 6

“Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.”

The message gets a bit lost in this chapter, which is fairly short in terms of verses. The theme of vanity is continued, but what this involves is a bit more muddy. Riches per se are not a sign of vanity, as these can, according to this chapter, be given by God; but to then not be able to feed oneself is vanity. I don’t understand, unless perhaps “feeding” is a metaphor for gaining wisdom – it could be, given some of the verses, but the references to feeding the mouth seem pretty straightforward. Maybe it makes more sense if you don’t leave a gap between it and the last chapter.