Ecclesiastes and Counseling Under the Sun

In this article, George Schwab examines the book of Ecclesiastes as it relates to counseling. Schwab argues that Ecclesiastes asks, what is the payoff to a person? What is it that remains, and is substantial and profitable, worth living for, working for and enduring for? He points out that the “Professor” in Ecclesiastes meditates mostly on what he has personally experienced and seen and he consigns the entire world to hebel: meaninglessness, vanity, futility, transience. Schwab argues that many counselees find themselves experiencing meaninglessness. He concludes with epistemological comments about the “empirical method” in the book of Ecclesiastes.