So-so Solomon--so what!

It’s always interesting to see a so-called Bible expert reveal a personal understanding of God’s Word that’s both immature and unknowledgeable.

In a recent issue of Christianity Today magazine is a first-person piece by the General Editor of the so-called "English Standard Version" of the Bible, J.I. Packer, a 90-year-old Oxford-educated author of more than 40 books, including the bestseller Knowing God. He writes about how his favorite Bible book is Ecclesiastes, “whether (the writer) was the Solomon of history or someone impersonating him—not to deceive but to make points in the most effective way.”
Packer reasons, “Whoever he was, Qohelet was a realist about the many ways in which this world gives us a rough ride. But while temperamentally inclined to pessimism and cynicism, I think, he was kept from falling into either of those craters of despair by a strong theology of joy.

“How far this matches the way people see me, I do not know, but this is how I want to see myself—and why I warm to Ecclesiastes as a kindred spirit. (One main difference, of course, is that his thinking is all done within the framework of Old Testament revelation.)

Packer continues, “Ecclesiastes is one of the Old Testament’s five wisdom books. It has been said that the Psalms teach us how to worship; Proverbs, how to behave; Job, how to suffer; Song of Solomon, how to love; and Ecclesiastes, how to live. How? With realism and reverence, with humility and restraint, coolly and contentedly, in wisdom and in joy . . .

“People who may not have read beyond chapter 3 might think of Ecclesiastes as voicing nothing more than bafflement and gloom at the way everything is. But 2:26 already goes beyond this: 'to the one who pleases him God has given . . . joy' (ESV, used throughout). In Ecclesiastes, joy is as central a theme, and as big and graciously bestowed a blessing, as it is in, say, Philippians . . .

"How then should we finally formulate the theology of joy that runs through and undergirds the entire book? Christian rejoicing in Christ and in salvation, as the New Testament depicts, goes further. But in celebrating joy as God’s kindly gift, and in recognizing the potential for joy of everyday activities and relationships, Ecclesiastes lays the right foundation. ‘There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God.’ "

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On the subject of Ecclesiastes, Jordan reasons, “The Book of Psalms says that ‘man in his best state is altogether vanity,’ and Solomon didn’t have to do all this stuff in Ecclesiastes to figure that out! The Bible already told him that if he would have just believed it!

“He didn’t believe it, though, or he quit believing it, and he got seduced by the wisdom of the world. Ecclesiastes demonstrates that all the places people seek wisdom apart from divine revelation are useless. Now, it’s fascinating that it’s that way, isn’t it?”

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Here’s a correlating passage from a recent study Jordan gave:

“In Acts 17 you see the whole city of Athens has been completely co-opted by taking the truth of God and changing it into a lie and worshipping and serving the creature more than the creator.

“There was nobody in Athens who even knew who Jesus Christ was! There was nobody who even knew what a Bible was except down in the synagogue.

“Paul went into a world that wasn’t arguing about who Jesus was or should we be Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian or Russian Orthodox.

“Acts 17:18 says, ‘Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.’

“They say, 'What’s this dude running off at the mouth about?!' These were the Greek wisdom lovers. Epicureans were followers of the Greek philosopher Epicureas. His philosophy was ‘let’s eat and drink for tomorrow we may die.’

“For Greeks, the ‘summum bonum,’ the greatest good in life, was happiness. Stoics, the Greek philosopher Zeno says, ‘No, good happens as bad happens; just need to tough it out.’
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“Did you know the 15 or 20 great philosophers of the ancient world all had the wisdom literature of the Bible on the table in front of them.

“Did you know Plato, Aristotle, Euripides, all those guys stole their philosophy out of the Bible? The wisest man who ever lived was a guy named Solomon. He wrote some books about his wisdom that were around hundreds of years before these men.

“The Book of Ecclesiastes has the foundation of every great Greek philosopher’s philosophy and these men never acknowledged it one time. A bunch of thieves, plagiarists, making a name for themselves. That’s the world Paul lived in.

“In Acts 17, Paul goes into the synagogue and they don’t want what he’s telling them, but the Jews only meet on Saturday so what does he do the other six days of the week? He talks to the Gentiles, daily, out there in the marketplace. He’s out holding street meetings!

“Preachers today say what you need to do is become relevant. You know how you become relevant? Tell people the truth. Look at what Paul does in Acts 17-22-23:

[22] Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
[23] For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

“Paul says, ‘You’re a bunch of superstitious religious ignoramuses and I want to tell you who you missed.' Does that sound like someone trying to relate to them? Does that sound like his biggest concern is trying to make ‘a connection’?

“Paul wasn’t trying to relate to them so they’d like him and therefore listen to him. He said, ‘I know something you don’t know and I need to tell you. I know what God says. I know something you need to know about.’

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“Paul goes to Corinth from Athens in Acts 18 and finds the Corinthians were dominated by the philosophies Acts 17’s talking about.

“He writes in I Corinthians 1: 18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
[19] For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
[20] Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
[21] For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.’

“You see who Paul’s thinking about? The Epicureans, the Stoics, the Athenians. He said, ‘God’s made all that stuff foolishness. It’s a bunch of ignorant superstitious religion. What’s the real answer? The preaching of the Cross.' But what do they consider that? Foolishness.”