[lastofus]

> Ecclesiastes is also a powerful book when I'm feeling cynical.

Ecclesiastes is my favorite book of the Bible. It's also very much a book I would never recommend to someone trying to cope with negative emotions. Personally, reading Ecclesiastes just reinforces a worldview of nihilism.

This is further reinforced by the possibility the end of the book, which prescribes what to do in the face of such meaninglessness, was added on later. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastes):

"Most, though not all, modern commentators regard the epilogue (12:9–14) as an addition by a later scribe. Some have identified certain other statements as further additions intended to make the book more religiously orthodox (e.g., the affirmations of God's justice and the need for piety)."

[humanrebar]

The book elaborates on why the world leads to an emptiness. And it's the Bible, not just some mopey livejournal blog, so it's comforting that it's not just me struggling with human existence. It's not that I'm blind or cynical or weak. The world just doesn't meet what I expect from a fair reality.

We expect a world that is fair. One that leads to lasting flourishing and life. I heard a smart theologian describe Ecclesiastes as a book that paints Christ with negative space. By exhaustively describing why the world doesn't fulfill us, we understand what we hunger for, and in the context of the rest of the Bible, we can see how God and Christ are ultimately satisfying in a way that people and the world aren't.