Pessimistic. Confusing. Cynical. How are we to interpret a book of the Bible that describes everything as meaningless? In this course, Dr. Knut Heim seeks to answer this question as he introduces you to the book of Ecclesiastes. Dr. Heim will help you discover that the book’s author is not a pessimist, but a realist, who encourages his audience to remain faithful to their God by setting the right priorities for a happy and fulfilled life.

Describe the book of Ecclesiastes as Christian Scripture.
Explain Ecclesiastes’ main contents and structure.
Identify the main approaches that have been used to interpret Ecclesiastes.
Develop the resilience to cope with adversity.
Build a foundation of understanding that true happiness comes from faith in and obedience to God.
Practice “seizing the day” through appreciating God as the giver of good gifts and discovering happiness in the ordinary things of life.

Dr. Heim gives a clear, digestible introduction to Ecclesiastes. In the past, I had found the flow of thought and the structure of this book to be rather circular and repetitive. Dr. Heim has shown that there is a progression of thought, that there are different thesis statements that the author is making and defending in successive parts of the book. However, Dr. Heim has skipped very large portions of the book that I wish he had dealt with. He has drawn out major themes and thesis statements, but has not linked all the chapters by a comprehensive outline. This being a Basic level and not Advanced level course, I can accept that it cannot be covered so comprehensively as I wished.
— Leong, Singapore
Great basic course into Ecclesiastes.
— Hasan, United States
The course gave me understanding of a book that l have always thought of as pessimistic. I have come to have an appreciation of the poetry in the book. I enjoyed the Hebrew word explanations.
— Brian, South Korea
This course is very informative. It teaches how to live a godly life. Godly life is necessary to live a fulfilling and happy life.
— Esosa, United States
Very clear explanation in each lesson with assessment questions. A well-planned course.
— Maureen, United States
Professor Heim has a calm and joyful way of teaching. It brought the book of Ecclesiastes in a new way of looking at my life. Thank you.
— Ursula, United States
An excellent course!
— Russell, Canada