The Skepticism of Qoheleth

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

Each year as we approach the months of October and November, the end of the liturgical year, the Lectionary for Mass points us in the direction of that body of literature classified as "Wisdom" in the Hebrew Scriptures. This body of literature makes up the third and final section of the Old Testament although it is placed before the prophets in most volumes. These books are the last and latest composed before Jesus' advent.

The Book of Ecclesiastes was authored by someone called "Qoheleth." The name is actually a title and is translated "collector." This writer has collected various poems, reflections, thoughts and opinions and compiled this book out of his experience of human nature. "Ecclesiastes" is the Latin title and translation of the name Qoheleth.

Just as each sacred writer brings something of his own viewpoint to his composition, the author of this collection of sayings infuses it with his unrelenting skepticism. A frequent refrain runs throughout the book: "Vanity, all is vanity." The familiar words of today's reading also belie the skeptic. This skeptical attitude comes out of the school of thought which believes that the human experience has been so corrupted by sin that it will need purification before God's kingdom can be established.

There is a time for everything under heaven. The entire human experience is enumerated in this very well known poem, so well known that it became a "rock and roll" hit in the late 1960's. Though the author's skepticism allows him to claim that there is nothing new under the sun, we know that he will be contradicted in Jesus who will appear on the scene some two to three hundred years later. "See, I make all things new." (Revelation 21:5b)