Breath, Death and Koheleth

A New, Secular Reading of Ecclesiastes

By: Chris Highland

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

For many secular people, the Bible no longer offers anything of value. Dismissed as myth, legend and delusion, the ancient scriptures of the world should be thrown into the dustbin of history, they say. But what if timeless and timely wisdom can be salvaged from the old scrolls? What might both theists and atheists discover when a fresh perspective, energized by curiosity and respectful reason, blows the dust of centuries away?

Humanist freethinker and former minister and chaplain, Chris Highland, takes a different road, offering another more constructive and inviting approach to one enigmatic and controversial book: Koheleth or Ecclesiastes ("The Teacher"). As he does with his other small study or reflection book: The Message on the Mountain: A New Secular Reading of the Sermon on the Mount, Highland draws on his background as an evangelical-pentecostal-protestant-ecumenical and interfaith adventurer, to dig out essential wisdom teachings of The Teacher/Preacher. All through the 12 chapters of Koheleth he keeps his feet and mind firmly on secular ground as he fearlessly pushes through traditional orthodoxies and spiritualizing of these texts.

This brief and concise study/reflection with commentary takes the reader into the mind of a deep thinker, a depressive king (perhaps Solomon), who asks difficult questions many are still asking, exposing the humanity that is both wonderfully free and fundamentally responsible. In true humanistic style, Highland seeks out the fundamental principle that we are ultimately responsible for our lives, faith or no faith.