Here, we'll take a brief look at the book of Ecclesiastes (subtitled "The Preacher"). This is one of three books that were supposed, in tradition, to have been written by Solomon. It is said that this book was written in Solomon's old age, while Proverbs was written in his middle years of power and wisdom, and the "Song of Songs" was written in his youth. This sort of tradition is, of course, probably wrong most of the time. However, the book of "the Preacher" is worth looking at for several reasons, regardless of who the actual author was.
Ecc 3:18-20 - I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over animals; for all is vanity. All go to one place; all are from dust, and all turn to dust again.
Ecc 7:13 - Consider the work of God; who can make straight what he has made crooked?
Ecc 9:5,6 - The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no more reward, and even the memory of them is lost. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished; never again will they have any share in all that happens under the sun.
Ecc 10:20 - Do not curse the king, even in your thoughts, or curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.
While these passages sound rather fatalistic and bleak (well, all but the last one), I think they are quite interesting philosophically. After all, the quotes from chapters 3 and 9 appear to support the concept that death is the end of one's existence.
I often wonder about the fatalism of the chapter 7 quote. Perhaps it's an expression of predeterminism. Or perhaps it's a thought more akin to the "nature vs nurture" debate we hear about so often in trying to figure out what makes personality and what influences it as we grow. Either way, it appears that the writer considered that personal choice could not affect anything if God wanted it a certain way.
The last quote quite startled me when I read it. It sounds a little like the start of the idea of "Big Brother" in a very low-tech sort of environment.
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