ignores the words, for example, of the New Testament: "All Scripture [ie., the Old Testament] is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness -" 2 Tim 3:16 Now this comment was made in New Testament times when the Old Testament had been in shape for at least 400 years, and included the book of Ecclesiastes. So the inference is that Ecclesiastes is also God-breathed, ie. the writer was expressing a God-given truth. So then is that it? Does it mean that there is no hope at all for a future life, even if one has been on one's best behaviour all life through? There is an interesting passage in the writings of the Psalms: a collection of poetry from the period 1000 -- 500 BC, and it reads like this: "For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. "But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. "This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem my life from