The Observations and Experiences of Solomon
There seems to be so many roads that lead to truth and life. So many worldviews both secular and religious that offer us reality. Yet Jesus said that there are really only two roads. One is a wide open highway with many lanes, but it leads to hell. The other is a narrow path that leads to life eternal.
In 1965 the Rolling Stones sang the number one rock song, Satisfaction. But they could not get any satisfaction. They tried this and that but they found themselves on a losing streak. Years later the heavy metal band called Poison sang another popular ballad asking the haunting question, Show me Something to Believe In?.
God showed Job, a righteous man, that he was a sinner. God showed Solomon, a wise man, that he was a fool. He was looking for love and truth outside the counsel of God. Ecclesiastes is the autobiography of King Solomon when he walked away from God. He explored every desire and appetite that people choose, but all the roads of inquiry ended in vanity and emptiness.
Solomon experienced nine philosophical roads hundreds of years before the great eastern thinker Confucius and the early Greek philosophers Socrates and Aristotle. According to 1 Kings 4, Solomon lectured in the disciplines of zoology, biology and other physical sciences long before they were developed by modern civilization.
Here are the nine roads he explored:
1. Scientism- the belief that scientific method will discover all truth.
2. Philosophy- the belief that human wisdom will discover all truth.
3. Hedonism- the belief that human pleasure will discover all truth.
4. Existentialism- the belief that present-tense experiences is reality.
5. Fatalism- the belief that all events are pre-determined so why seek truth?
6. Egoism- the belief that self-interest is the primary value in life.
7. Religion- the belief that self-effort will bring us to God and enlightenment.
8. Materialism- the belief that material possessions is the primary value in life.
9. Morality- the belief that ethical values based on human standards is truth.
The results of the journey:
All attempts to find ultimate happiness and fulfillment are only fleeting at best. It is an exercise in futility. The futility of life should lead us to seek happiness and fulfillment in God alone. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life".
