CEM Sample Class "L'Ancien Testament"

We just finished up "The Pentateuch" in our year-long class on the Old Testament! Now we're starting the Books of Wisdom. For those of you interested in the style of instruction at CEM, in knowing what we learn etc., here is a sample from my notes this past Thursday. Imagine this spoken live and in French, and you're practically here with us in class!

Introduction to the Books of Wisdom
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
Ecclesiastes: First of all, why is this book in the Bible?
Why are all of the "books of wisdom" in the Bible?
What is the theme of Ecclesiastes? Vanity, vanity.
What is the theme of Job? Suffering.
What is the theme of Song of Songs? Love.
You can read these three books like Dante's Divine Comedy. Ecclesiastes as 'Inferno', Job as 'Purgatorio', and Song of Songs as 'Paradiso'.

3 "Philosophies of Life" in these Books
BOREDOM: Ecclesiastes. There is no meaning to life, and that makes existing boring!
Hope: Job. Job suffers, but with hope of an end!
Joy: Song of Songs.

Biblical Approach to the Books, each representing a virtue.
FAITH: Ecclesiastes shows that without faith, life is boring.
HOPE: Job lives life with the faith lacking in Eccles., but he has no hope.
LOVE: Song of Songs, this book definitely has love.

The questions posed in these books will be answered over the course of the entire Bible, through the entire Bible.
You have to remember who you were to better understand who you are now.
These books aren't great revelations of the Divine. These books discuss the experiences of life. In each of these books, you will see people living with one of the 3 philosophies above.

Introduction to Ecclesiastes
The author of Ecclesiastes is looking for the supreme good of life; what we are all looking is looking for, to live a good life. This book is the most accessible to our modern world. You can quote it to your friends, and they will agree with you. It is filled with questions to which the author keeps saying, "I don't have the answers! I keep looking, but I don't have the answers!"
The author of Ecclesiastes is EXTREMELY honest. He wants to communicate all of his experiences.
The author appears to live in a securalized world. God is there, but he is not a character who intervenes. God is presented as a way of attaining a good life. As in the modern sense, he is just an aspect of life and not as a speaker.
The structure is very easy to follow and the thesis is clearly indicated:
These: Every thing is Vanity. Eccl. 1: 1-3
Argument Eccl. 1-12
Conclusion Eccl. 12:8-14
Who is the author of Ecclesiastes? We assume it is Solomon. Towards the end of the great kingdom of Israel and the reign of Solomon, he was led more and more into idolatry by his many wives. The original title, Qoheleth, means "Speaker before the crowd." Normally, Biblical authors communicate the word of God. Here, the author communicates what HE thinks!
The ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM of Ecclesiastes, the BIG QUESTION, is why do we exist? What is the meaning of life? Like the proverbial elephant, it is very possible to avoid this question our entire life, i.e. by pursuing pleasure, using propaganda (such as: there is no elephant in this room!), showing indifference, pursuing happiness, returning to subjectivism etc.
The courageous author of Ecclesiastes does not avoid this question, he attacks it!

(Quick Logic Review!) Syllogism! Fact=>fact=> conclusion.
Syllogism of Ecclesiastes:
Fact #1: All work is done under the sun.
Fact #2: Everything under the sun is vanity.
Conclusion: Works = Vanity

What is vanity? Vanity is "smoke." Smoke rises, diffuses and disappears. In the Old Testament, the gods of the nations are described as smoke-they disappear and no one remembers them.

In his search for meaning, Solomon tries to do 5 great works:
1) WISDOM (Solomon's wisdom comes from God). He tries to fill his soul/mind with good things.
2) PLEASURE: good things for the 5 senses.
3)RICHES and POWER: Materialism (Solomon is the richest King of Israel, ever!)
4)ALTRUISM: Do good for others.
5) RELIGION: piety. Trying to fill up the hole in our soul.

What are we trying to fill? Our minds, our pockets, our soul?


Note taker's note: At this point we started to discuss the different works pursued by Solomon to achieve "a good life." In this introduction, we opened up and speculated on some of the most important questions in life, as posed by the Bible's Books of Wisdom. Over the next month, the CEMistes will be noting what these books have to say on these topics. I hope that you continue to speculate on the question of and the answer to the meaning of life. If you haven't already arrived at a conclusion, I will give you a hint that it has something to do with God and his will for your life.

The mayor of Rothenburg, Germany was a very wise man. He built his house on a tower so that the local citizens could not come up and visit him whenever they wanted.