As most on this forum know, I am an atheist, and as such, I hold that the Bible is written by humans. I hold that it is wrong in many, many ways, both scientifically and historically -- but also morally and ethically -- and over the years I've pointed many of these out. So very often, when somebody says, "I've found a passage that expresses a very real truth," I've only need to flip through a few pages to find another passage that contradicts it completely, which makes it pretty tough for the atheist to take seriously at all.
I have also, by the way, said that I always found that the book of Eccliastes did indeed contain some wisdom. And here's a passage that speaks directly to me -- the atheist -- and at the very same time seems to point to the wisdom of Lucretius's great poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things).
My question to Christians is this: do you have to dismiss this passage from the Bible altogether in order to maintain that the Bible is an accurate reflection of "the Christian Message?"
Ecclesiates 3:18-22
I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
I have also, by the way, said that I always found that the book of Eccliastes did indeed contain some wisdom. And here's a passage that speaks directly to me -- the atheist -- and at the very same time seems to point to the wisdom of Lucretius's great poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things).
My question to Christians is this: do you have to dismiss this passage from the Bible altogether in order to maintain that the Bible is an accurate reflection of "the Christian Message?"
Ecclesiates 3:18-22
I also thought, "As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?