Excellent, excellent book. Ecclesiastes can be a confusing piece of the Bible's wisdom literature, but Gibson has done a terrific job laying out Ecclesiastes' central thesis and helping the reader come to an understanding of how to live in light of fixed future realities, namely, death and judgment, instead of pretending they don't exist. Gibson highlights the stark and rather direct message of the Preacher, but that it is also not ultimately cynical or critical of life. Rather, anticipating death leads to vibrant, joyful, purposeful living. I hope to return to this one frequently! ( )

I must say that this book has been one of the best I have read regarding faith growth. The author discusses the Book of Ecclesiastes in a very understandable way. The author explains that the Preacher in this Book is telling us that nothing is new under the sun. That is, patterns in our lives are no different than patterns that have existed since the beginning of man. We act today no differently than our ancestors acted. That may be a difficult concept to accept at first, but in the core characteristics of man, we have always loved, we have always hated, we have always been foolish, we have always done stupid things, etc.

But the Preacher is telling us that God has given us good gifts to be enjoyed all throughout our lives, despite the characteristics that we have and will always exhibit. We are to enjoy life, good food and drink, enjoy community with others, but always with the knowledge there will be suffering…nothing new under the sun.

I cannot do justice to the author’s words, so you must read this book to gain the author’s intent…and I strongly suggest you read the book together with others in a discussion group. ( )