Solomon's Thesis Statement (Part 1)

Solomon’s Thesis Statement: The Thesis.

A proper thesis statement is always needed during a discourse as it will guide the listener/reader through the material given and better help the listener come to the appropriate conclusion at the end. Now, what exactly is a thesis statement? Wordweb defines it as, “An unproved statement put forward as the premise of an argument.” It is vital in setting the stage for whatever comes after. It is employed by Solomon at the beginning of Ecclesiastes. The book itself can be viewed as a science experiment by Solomon. He starts the book out by giving his thesis statement, some arguments used to back up this statement, and various tests in order to prove his statement. It is our goal to look at the thesis statement which Solomon wrote and to look the thesis statement and his beginning arguments in order to come to a better understanding of our own lives.

Solomon starts by writing, “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2). A key word used throughout this book is “vanity.” Its most basic meaning is “emptiness.” Solomon stated, “all is empty.” It is important that one understands what Solomon means by “all.” Surely, Solomon does not mean that vanity encompasses everything. One need only look at Solomon’s closing statements to know that he did not view God as vanity (Ecc. 12:1, 13-14). Consider what he refers to as vanity (Ecclesiastes 2). His focus is explicitly on the things of this world with no mention of God. In fact, Solomon’s experiment focused on trying to gain happiness using the things of this world and leaving God out of the equation. Keeping that in mind, when Solomon wrote, “…all is vanity,” he refers to being focused only on that which is worldly. He even calls it “vanity of vanities” which is a statement of degree. It is the vanity at its apex. So, what is Solomon’s thesis statement in a nutshell? “To focus solely on the things of this world is vanity.”