The Great Reduction
Solomon Seeks the Key to Peace
- Christian Living
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2020
FritzSearch.com earns a commission on purchases made through Bookshop.org links.
Publisher's Description
What is the secret to happiness? King Solomon was one of the greatest superachievers of all time and fabulously wealthy. He also had a reputation as the wisest man in the world. But at the end of his life he was so unhappy that he felt moved to cry out "all is vanity" and wish he had never been born. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon brilliantly diagnoses the causes of our continuing unhappiness and boils down the secret of peace and contentment to a few essential ingredients. The Great Reduction explains why his prescription for peace is just as relevant today as the day it was written. It also uses his diagnosis to shed light on a happiness that goes far beyond anything Solomon could have imagined.
Endorsements (5)
“For those who find Ecclesiastes mysterious, this book sets the ancient biblical seer’s voice in a wider literary and philosophical vision that is also personal. We gain a companion for our journey of meditative reading.”
“Wisdom had made Solomon powerful and rich beyond measure. . . . But wisdom couldn’t make him happy. Trott helps us see beyond Solomon’s futility to where true wisdom is to be found.”
“Jay Trott wonderfully expands in an accessible yet learned manner the quest for life in all its fullness as expressed by Solomon. A vade mecum for the pilgrim in progress, this book will serve one well at whatever stage of life’s journey they find themselves in.”
“Trott considers topics that cover the full range of human life: love, marriage, work, wisdom, friendship, loneliness, and more; Solomon wrote about all these, and Trott brings Solomon’s insights to bear on contemporary life.”
“This is a book that I wish I had read earlier in my life. Setting the bar too high always ends in disappointment if Solomon’s experience has any carryover for us. I have a new perspective on Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs, and now find my ‘joy in the Lord.’”
See something wrong on this page? Report a problem