Among the books of the Bible, few are as baffling and as bracingly relevant as Ecclesiastes. At once skeptical and devout, despairing and joyful, its author confronts the great riddle of existence: how to live well in a world governed by time, chance, and death.
In this six-part series, UATX Professor J.J. Kimche traces the intellectual and spiritual drama of Ecclesiastes—its historical world, its haunting questions, its theology of finitude, and its enduring wisdom. Drawing on philosophy, theology, and literature, these lectures reveal Ecclesiastes as the Bible’s most profound meditation on meaning: a book that strips away illusion to uncover, at last, the quiet radiance of joy and the fear of God.
This series explores:
What kind of book Ecclesiastes is: a sermon, diary, philosophical treatise, or theological rant?
The problem of hevel: why one slippery Hebrew word is the key to the whole book
Whether there’s a way out: the answers the author refuses to give, and the surprising company he keeps—from the Stoics to the Epicureans
A God who is everywhere yet answers no one: and the strange, solitary picture of human life that follows
Professor Kimche takes Ecclesiastes on its own terms and uncovers a book that speaks, with startling force, to how we live and how we die.
We chose UATX because we believe that this university molds its students in a way that is unlike anywhere else. It is challenging, but it is also a community where people are not just concerned with remembering your name; they are concerned with shaping your character. — UATX students Analina Naugle (Class of 2028) & Francesca Naugle (Class of 2029)
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