Culpable gloom
“Follow the ways of your heart and what your eyes see; and know that on account of all these, God will bring you into judgment.” The last part of this is often taken as a warning about the limits of joy and pleasure-taking. Seow thinks otherwise: “Human beings are supposed to enjoy life to the full because it is their divinely assigned portion, and God calls one into account for failure to enjoy. Or, as a passage in the Talmud has it: ‘Everyone must give an account before God of all good things one saw in life and did not enjoy.’ . . . For Qohelet, enjoyment is not only permitted, it is commanded; it is not only an opportunity, it is a divine imperative.”
Solemn faces of the world: Repent!
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
In Medias Res
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