About this episode

The episode explores the authorship of Ecclesiastes, its philosophical implications, and its response to Greek influence on Hebrew culture.

Supposedly, Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, but in truth it was written 700 years later. I studied Greek philosophy and literature in college at Occidental, long ago. Something stuck with me later: Ecclesiastes was probably written in part as a response to the Greek influence on Hebrew culture at the time Ecclesiastes was written - just after the height of the Epicurean age. We consider the jaded view presented by the author of Ecclesiastes and how in truth, the author is making a very positive point about the frustrations, the "vanity" or "vapor" of the things we grasp in this life "under the sun". We consider why the author writes from the perspective of Solomon, and we look at the place Ecclesiastes holds in the world of philosophy - and what we can learn from this today.

People in this episode

Host: Buzz King

Topics covered

• Ecclesiastes
• Greek philosophy
• Epicureanism
• Hebrew culture
• vanity of life
• philosophy

Keywords

• Ecclesiastes
• Solomon
• Epicurus
• Greek philosophy
• vanity
• philosophy
• Hebrew culture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Occidental

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