PANEL
Dr. J. Richard Chase
Dr. Charles L. Feinberg Dr. Samuel H. Sutherland Discussions
Q. Porterville, Calif. "Ecclesiastes 1:4 says the earth will abide for ever. Will it not eventually be de stroyed by fire? And how long is forever?" A. It is important to understand the purpose of this Old Testament book. The Spirit of Cod allows us to see here not the teaching of divine doctrine but rather man's reasoning. Frequently the phrase recurs, "under the sun" (1 :3,9 ; 2:11; etc.). It shows to what extent man's thinking goes when he does not consider the overview which the Lord has. It should teach us
the folly of considering only this one narrow aspect of life. If there is nothing more then we are no different than the animals. Just be cause things look this way to man by following such reason does not mean that that is the way things really are! "Under the sun" is man's vantage point of fallible rea son and it will lead him to all kinds of false impressions and erroneous judgments. II Peter 3:4 indicates that the scoffers would want us to think that things will always be the same. They would like to erase any pos- Page 21
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