Life is brief and sometimes unfair.

Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. The hard work of one generation is squandered by the next. What’s the point? Do we gain anything by living well during our time ‘under the sun’, or does it all amount to nothing?

These are the questions to which the one who calls himself ‘the Preacher’ applies his mind and his considerable financial resources. He seeks answers to life’s biggest questions, experimenting and investigating the world around him. Thousands of years later, we can read his observations and conclusions in the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament.

But his world is our world. His questions are our questions. And so the Preacher’s careful observations, honest answers and bold conclusions demand our attention and push us to look ‘beyond the sun’ for ultimate meaning.

About Pathway Bible Guides
This Bible study resource is part of our series of Pathway Bible Guides. This series aims to provide simple, straightforward Bible study material for:

» Christians who are new to studying the Bible (perhaps because they've been recently converted or they have joined a Bible study group for the first time)
» Christians who find other studies (such as the Interactive Bible Studies) too much of a stretch
» groups with limited time for study.

Accordingly, we've designed the studies to be short, straightforward and easy to use, with an uncomplicated vocabulary. At the same time, we've tried to do justice to the passages being studied, and to model good Bible-reading principles. We've tried to be simple without being simplistic; no-nonsense without being no-content.

The questions and answers assume a small group context, but can be easily adapted to suit different situations, such as individual study and one-to-one.

About the author
Des Smith is married to Suzie, is a father to Daniel, Samuel and Jemima, and serves as Senior Pastor at Trinity City Church in Adelaide, Australia.