Monday, October 19, 2009

Eat, drink and be merry, for everyone goes to Sheol

[Image of skull and bones from here]

From the writer of Ecclesiastes:

" ... the same fate is in store for all: for the righeous, and for the wicked; for the good and pure, and for the impure; for him who sacrifices, and for him who does not; for him who is pleasing, and for him who is displeasing; and for him who swears, and for him who shuns oaths. That is the sad thing about all that goes on under the sun: that the same fate is in store for all ...

" ...

"Go, eat your bread in gladness, and drink your wine in joy, for your action was long ago approved by God. Let your clothes always be freshly washed, and your head never lack ointment. Enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the fleeting days of life that have been granted to you under the sun -- all your fleeting days. For that alone is what you can get out of life and out of the means you acquire under the sun. Whatever it is in your power to do, do with all your might. For there is no action, no reasoning, no learning, no wisdom in Sheol, where you are going."

Ecclesiastes 9:2-10

Note: Sheol - There are few references to an afterlife in the Hebrew Bible. One is created of dust, lives out his days and returns to dust. The word, Sheol, however, is used by several writers, notably by Ecclesiastes. Sheol is an "underworld," a place where the dead descend to sleep "with their fathers." The bible does not speak of a resurrection or life after death until one reaches the later eschatological (Daniel) and apocalyptic/wisdom literature.

3 comments:

A World Quite Mad said...

Speaking of the end of the world, Ecclesiastes 1:4 says:

"[One] generation passeth away, and [another] generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever."

So much for that end-of-the-world nonsense. LOL

Lowell said...

@ A World - Yeah, but I'm not sure that Ecclesiastes (or Koheleth) knew what he was talking about, either. But, hey, if you're gonna accept the bible as inerrant, you've got to figure out a way to dance around him. And that's really my point. It's not so much that Ecclesiastes was right or wrong, but that he contradicts all kinds of teachings of both the Rabbis and the preachers.

A World Quite Mad said...

Good point. Ecclesiastes always was my favorite book, right after Song of Songs, hehe...

Only someone with no critical thinking skills would entertain the notion that the Bible is inerrant for even a moment. Well, maybe they would if they've never read the thing. There are so many contradictions in it, it's pretty crazy that anyone could suggest that it's infallible and inerrant and have anyone take them seriously.

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