Evening star., 1927-11-13
The Story of Civilization

we are made whole bt seeing whole :,
No wonder carfsie Ma ia. Lob A noble
book. III men's 'setSot,k<E IT isshur first /
oldest statement of the never endin:
prohlem--man's destiny and Gods
ways with him here in this earth
And all in such free flowing outlines
grand i'm it's sincerity. in its simplic
ity. in its epic melody. md rfpos" hf
rcconcilement. There Is nOth
ing written. think. in the Bible ~
out Of it. Of equai literary m erit.
Heroes and Here Worship. The Hero
as i'ruphct) -
Nevertheless. the problem was nor
answered. Even if Unr parts evil is
another warts good. and both nre sub
| iective things lost In the v;lStness .Ofs
| the wh0:e. evil r. real. and human
| suffering Is too piiiful tn he done sway
with by metaphysics. when the Iews
had felt for n century the iiber1iizine
touch Uf the Greek mind. and espe
ciaiIy in AleXandt i, hail Developed ~
culture half Hehraic. half Hellenic, and
learned to- think Independently NJ their,
| traditions and their lnws. the skepti.
cism lurking in the Book of job grew
bolder in its speech. and suddenly.
amid the Bibles poetry of fervent
| faith. we come upon the strange and
subtle Book Of Ecclesiastes. another
treasure of our literary heritage
Here the pcssimisfn Of job finds un.
| restrained expression. Vanity nt
vanity, all il vanity. What profit
hath n man of Ill his labor which he
taketh under the sun? One genera
| ton p1sseth away, and another gen
Grafton cometh; but the earth abl,ieth
forever. All things are full
of labor: man cannot intet it. :.
| The thing that hath been is hat
which shall i,e: and that which is d"ne'
| Ii that which shall he done: and there
| is no new thing under the sun.
| For i'm much wisdom is much grief;
and he that incfeaseth knowledge in
creiiseth sorrow" Here is schopen.
hauer in nuce: chapter of E,cclesi.
astes thoroughly understood is as
strung and bitter q potion as all The
World rs Will nn1 Idea -
| y i = 4.
| There Is no Justice IN this world
| this preacher III nkS: the wicked pros
| Cer 9fnmelesslt In every nation 80
| | returned. and considered NIL The ,p
| preSsionS that are done under the
| sun. aud behold the tears Of such as
we're oppressed ana they l1ad.ffs, com
| forter. and OH the side of their ofs
pressors there was power" tivD. And
| there is no meaning in the world: let
a man ponder 1t as long as he will. the
| secret of the universe q lld"S him
| forever Nothing Is niofe. rldicul0tis
than to write books ~ philosophy:
'Of making many books thefe Ia no
end: and much study is a weariness
of the flesh" txii.lG. 1t is as wise.
tn he u fool as II philosopher. for both
come In time to fhe same end, ana
| a. f.t.1 t., NJ flt.,
way 7 saw that wisdom eXcelieth
folly" hut then | said in my heart
as IT happeneth to the fool. so it hap
peneth even To me: and why was
then more wise? Then I said in my
heart that This also Is vanity" Till 15'
He concludes that wisdom is good.
with an inheritance WILD.
Back Of this sadness. as behind so
much of our own delicate melancholy.
| is loss of belief in another life. with
its reunions. it's cOmpenSations and
its eternity. For that which befall
eth tire sons Of men. ltefalleth beasts
even ore thing befalketh them az the
nre dieth. so dieth the other: they have
all one breath; so that man hath
no pre-eminence above beast: for all
is vanity" Gii.1g
| As Job is an allegory of Judah
stricken and beginning TO doubt it,
God 50 k;cclesiastes Is The symbol Of
a people definitely conquered. scat.
| terrell in exile 10 strange lands and
driven at last to dental and' despair
| II is sign that Yahveh Vas beginning
| to die. and that The sUtil 1T man left
empty and discontentetl. would soon
1 he ready for anuther faith. Already
in the Book Of the Wisdom Of Solomon
J the new belief appears. and eenters