That list is from Self-Contradictions of the Bible by William Henry Burr, published in 1860. There's a list of responses at http://www.rationalchristianity.net/143contrad.html
I have only looked over a few responses and think 122 and 123 should include some commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes much of which is written from a humanistic point of view. From the Believer's Bible Commentary:
"If this key -under the sun- is not kept constantly in mind, then the book will present mountainous difficulties. It will seem to contradict the rest of Scripture, to set forth strange doctrines, and to advocate a morality that is questionable, to say the least.
But if we remember that Ecclesiastes is a compendium of human, not divine wisdom, then we will understand why it is that while some of its conclusions are true, some are only half true, and some are not true at all....When we say that some of the book's conclusions "under the sun" are only half true and some are not true at all, what does this do to the inspiration of Ecclesiastes? The answer is that it does not affect the question of inspiration in the slightest.
The book is part of the inspired Word of God. It is God-breathed in the sense that the Lord ordained that it should be included in the canon of Scripture. We hold to the verbal, plenary inspiration of Ecclesiastes as we do the rest of the bible."
(Believer's Bible Commentary by William MacDonald, p. 875)
Later on MacDonald says "Ecclesiastes represents man's best conclusions as he searches for answers "under the sun"... It is what a wise man might think if he did not have a Bible."
(Believer's Bible Commentary, p. 907)
Former Jehovah's Witness said "The entire book of Ecclesiastes is written in a sort of point-counterpoint style expressing such hopelessness and discouragement, and then eventually responding to this with positive expressions of faith."
http://www.cftf.com/death/index.html
Regarding number 122, there are a few other verses which are believed to support annihilation such as Psalm 88:5 and Ezekiel 18:4 though the latter one is badly taken out of context. Burr cited Eccl. 3:19-20 but didn't take verse 21 into account:
Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" (Eccl. 3:21, NIV)
The teacher was looking at the final destination of people and animals on earth and at that point wasn't sure about the afterlife. At the end of the book he says that man's spirit returns to God.
How Do You Treat Inerrancy?
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Originally Posted by Crispus
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