Can Meaning Exist Without God? A Close Reading of Qohelet in Light of the Secular Social Imaginary

Abstract

This study explores the timeliness of the book of Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) in Christian Apologetics. It follows a methodology of close reading in Qohelet conducted within the conceptual frame of Charles Taylor’s Secular Social Imaginary. This is an interdisciplinary study including biblical theology, rhetorical analysis, and Christian apologetics. These come together to show both how humanism provides an invalid construction for meaning and how Qohelet destroys all meaning-making undertaken apart from God. Subsequent apologetic cues from this comparison will be discussed. All this is done to chase readers to the present and eternal meaning found only in Christ.