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Pasa Graphe' Theopneustos Kai Ophelimos (Greek) is one of the most often-repeated passages from the Scriptures, ie, the Bible. The passage appears in the heading of our Facebook page. But what does it say to us in our various tongues? Well, for those of us who speak English, this passage is a bold testimony from the pen of one Paul, a first-century scholar from the Isrealite tribe of Benjamin. It is also a statement steeped in the thelogy of the Biblical narratives. So, Paul wrote to a young ethnic Jew named Timotheus: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable......"
At the time Paul wrote those words, there was not yet a codex known as the "New Testament." The scrolls of papyrus on which were written the Scriptures are what we call today the "Old Testament." In its immediate and limited interpretation, Paul is saying that the messages in the Old Testament are inspired by God. That being so, who is the man who would say that the record of the flood in Noah's day was simply an allegory, and not an historical account?

Ecclesiastes

The word Ecclesiastes means “preacher,” or “assembly speaker.” From the earliest times, this preacher has been identified as Solomon, the third king of ancient Israel. In the first chapter, for example, we find these words about the author: “I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes 1:12).

Many readers don't like the book of Ecclesiastes. “It's too depressing,” they say. And frankly, the book does contain many expressions of pessimism and doubt. But these thoughts were apparently written by Solomon in his old age after wandering away from God. He describes life “under the sun”—life without God—and reminds us that it is meaningless and empty. He spoke out of his own depressing experience with selfish, sinful living.

At the close of the book, he points the way to making our personal existence one of value and meaning. He says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”