Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Ecclesiastes 1:4

Eastern Fathers

Gregory of Nyssa

What good does the possessor of many acres gain in the end? Except that the foolish man thinks his own that which never belongs to him, ignorant seemingly in his greed that "the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof," for "God is king of all the earth." It is the passion of having which gives men a false title of lordship over that which can never belong to them. …

On Virginity, Chapter IV ↗

Western Saints

Ambrose of Milan

By the will of God, therefore, the earth remains immovable. "The earth stands forever," according to Ecclesiastes, yet it is moved and nods according to the will of God. It does not therefore continue to exist because based on its own foundations. It does not stay stable because of its own props. The Lord established it by the support of his will, because "in his hand are all the ends of the earth." The simplicity of this faith is worth all the proffered proofs.

The Six Days of Creation ↗

Jerome

"A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever." While some men die, others are born, and those you had seen, are not seen anymore, and you then see those who have not been before. What is more vain than this vanity, than that the earth remains, which was made on account of mankind? And that man himself, the master of the earth, should be suddenly returned to the dust? …

Commentary on Ecclesiastes ↗

Bonaventure

And that he has nothing more than vanity, he shows when he adds: "A generation passes away, and a generation comes." Therefore there is change and succession both in man and in his works. Sirach 14: "Some things are generated, and others are cast down; so is the generation of flesh and blood: one ends, and another is born," according to what is said in James 4: "What is your life but a vapor appearing for a little while"? …

Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 ↗