The Problem of Angst: Answers from the Book of Ecclesiastes by Kim Guilliams, MA
The Greater Heritage Ministry Helps series of booklets teach important and relevant biblical topics in practical ways to help ministry professionals and believers grow spiritually and walk closer with Christ.
Free Download – The Problem of Angst: Answers from the Book of Ecclesiastes
We live in a world that bombards us with stress and challenges each and every day. Think of global issues—civil war, riots, mass shootings, artificial intelligence, debt-ridden countries, war, immigration law, governmental spyware, financial collapse, pandemic repercussions, and rising levels of anxiety and stress in the United States.
These topics are just some of the things we encounter in just one day’s worth of news, yet they cause gut-wrenching, adrenaline-pumping stress in the viewer’s mind and body.“This Ministry Helps booklet teaches readers to identify the ever-lurking presence of angst, acknowledge its legitimacy, and alleviate it by pointing them to God’s answers to angst from the book of Ecclesiastes.”
Unless we live off-grid and completely alone, these are the kinds of topics we encounter all day, every day. We read about them on Twitter. We see the video footage on YouTube. We discuss these topics with our coworkers and families. We watch talking-head news hosts yell at one another in an endless 24-hour news cycle, and so on.
But the stress doesn’t end there. People face their own personal stressors—loss of a job, a loved-one’s death, divorce, financial stress, health scares, and lack of purpose.
Sometimes it seems like it’s more than we can face. It’s all too much. Too much anxiety. Too much stress. Too much pain. All of this combines to create an overriding feeling of what historically has been known as angst – a feeling of overwhelming stress and dread.
This Ministry Helps booklet teaches readers to identify the ever-lurking presence of angst, acknowledge its legitimacy, and alleviate it by pointing them to God’s answers to angst from the book of Ecclesiastes.
Throughout Kim Guilliams (past winner of the Zondervan Theology Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Study of Theology) takes readers along with the author of Ecclesiastes, the Qoheleth, as he explains how believers can live faithfully and confidently in the midst of a crooked, angst-filled world.
The Problem of Angst: Answers from the Book of Ecclesiastes points readers to an eternal God who has given us a desire for eternity and has prepared for us an eternal home, while also giving practical advice for moral living and steps on how to redeem the pain of daily living as opposed to withdrawing from it. Treatment is also given for how the church can practically and effectively respond to congregants’ battles with angst.
Contents
Introduction
1. The Problem of Angst
2. Why Ecclesiastes?
3. Introduction to the Book of Ecclesiastes
4. The Angst of Hebel “Under the Sun”
-How is Life Hebel?
5. The Opposite of Hebel: Eternal Shalom
6. Ecclesiastes’ Wisdom for Daily Living in Light of the Angst of Hebel and the Shalom of Eternity
7. The Church’s Response to Hebel
8. Qoheleth’s Conclusion
References
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