Three Philosophies of Life: Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs Paperback – October 6, 1989

The great Peter Kreeft turns his attention to the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes Life asVanity, Job Life as Suffering, and Song of Songs Life as Love. He describes them as a philosophy reflectingthe last things-Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) as hell on earth, Job as purgatory on earth, and Song of Songs asheaven on earth.I was glad that this great teacher seemed to find Ecclesiastes as interesting as I did when I was a lateteenager. It is the question to which the rest of the Bible is the answer, as Kreeft also pointed out inYou Can Understand the Bible. It is the only book of pure philosophy in the Bible, the only bookwhere God is silent. Life as vanity, not meaning looking in the mirror but meaninglessness. Althoughwritten before the time of Jesus, the book (attributed to Solomon) is similar to the existentialists oftoday, like Sartre with his Nausea.Kreeft's best book in my opinion is Making Sense Out of Suffering, his tribute to C.S. Lewis' Problemof Pain. So it's no surprise that he's got a sharp analysis of Job, bringing his expert logical skills tolook at the problem of evil. But it's not just the problem of evil, it's the problem of God. The differencebetween Ecclesiastes and Job is that God speaks at the beginning and the end. We know that Job isjust, even though his friends don't think so, because the author, and more importantly, God, say soat the beginning. And at the end, God speaks, because Job finally is silent long enough to listen. Evenwhen he was on the dungheap, Job was God's beloved.Finally, there's the Song of Songs. This is both a human love song at the literal level, and at the spirituallevel an allegory for the union of God and the soul and Christ and the Church. Kreeft uses this as anopportunity to explain the principle of the Catholic both/and. Solomon had 900 wives, but wasn'thappy until he found love. Whether or not Solomon was the historical author of Ecclesiastes andSong of Songs, he is associated with the wisdom tradition, so those connections can be made betweenthe different texts. I was curious where he would go with the idea that "love is 'sexist' ". It was just thebasic point that God is He/Him in relationship to the soul because He impregnates the soul with love.As Lewis had said, we are all feminine in relationship to God. This point also goes back to Bernardof Clairvaux. It has falsely been blamed for the feminization of Christian faith, which is due to otherfactors such as the loss of faith in France after the revolution. At a more basic level, God is He simplybecause if you are a Christian, Jesus revealed him as the Father.Kreeft notes that he is "over my head" following Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Bernard,John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and many other Fathers, Doctors and saints in commenting on thesong of songs. Well, Kreeft is one of the finest writers of our time.

Peter Kreeft gets to the point and knows the Word of God, which is what matters

Ecclesiastes. The philosophy of vanity.Job . Of suffering.Song of Songs. Of love.The 1st is hell on earth; the 2nd purgatory (although Kreeft is a Catholic he uses the term here in its general sense, as a purifying act, as the cross that everyone who is to follow Christ has to pick up); and the 3rd is Heaven on earth.The author has a knack for explaining philosophical questions in a way that everybody can understand. His key instrument, or tool, is his passion and lucidness. It is a very good piece of advice indeed that he gives when he says that Ecclesiastes is the one book that modern agnostics should start with, because Solomon is the man they can identify with most. I found marvelous images and quotes, like John Stuart Mill's saying: "It is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied", so much for Socialism; or his quote of the famous opera lines: "laugh, clown, laugh" to refer to human pursuits. You live, that is, you work as a clown; your wife cheats on you (=you go through disappointments and emptiness and loss), you end up either crying over it, the existentialist point of view, or laughing at it, which is modern pop psychology's advice. Both solutions are not solutions, but logical conclusions to those who live as clowns. Solomon doesn't tell you to laugh or cry, he tells you to pick up a different job. But which? That in another book.I sure enjoyed reading this book, like all other by Mr. Kreeft. I can't wait to get in my hands his next.

Kreeft's premise is that there are only three philosophies in life, and each is best illustrated by three books of the Old Testament. The three books are known as wisdom books (aptly named) and are Ecclesiastes--life as vanity, Job--life as suffering, and Song of Songs--life as love. These parallel closely to hell, purgatory, and heaven. (Please do not be turned off by the theological term of purgatory. As Kreeft explains, it is a time full of hope, of transformation, a building of deep faith.)This book is not an explanation or analysis of these Scriptures. It dwells on the summum bonum question--what is the meaning of life, why are we here, what is the point of it all? Each of these three books attempt to answer it in their own way. And as a result, they are linked together as stepping stones or phases on the path to seeking the answers for ourselves, in seeking God.Everyone has had experiences of these three areas in their lives in some measure. As I read through each section, I felt my mood change as I found myself identifying deeply with the vanity and purposelessness the Preacher finds in Ecclesiastes, with the loss, doubt, questioning, and hope of Job, and with the love and desire of the lovers in Song of Songs.Kreeft does a marvelous job throughout the whole book. He manages to tie philosophy, theology, and especially the mystery of God's love (mysticism) in a beautiful tapestry that will warm a seeking soul.