pynchon agnostic? II

[Abdiel OAbdiel]

And the crown of righteousness? Victory? Nothing? The
Wind? Seperate and alone. This is the Gnostic mind
that drives Blicero to vanity. 

"There's nothing inside. Only the scungille shell."
370; 384; [Education of Henry Adams]

Graves tells us that scungille,  periwinkle, scallop,
were aphrodisiacs, sacred to Aphrodite, identified by
the shell, the mirror ("know thyself") and vanity, the
comb (originally a plectrum for plucking lyre strings)
and heartlessness, associated with the Moon Goddess
Eurynome, Botticelli's Birth Of Venus is an exact icon
of her cult...




GR.267  ...it was vanity, vanity as his Puritan
forerunners had known it, bone and heart alert to
Nothing..." 

In common parlance "vanity" and "vain" apply to
conceited persons with exaggerated self-opinions.
While the biblical usage includes this nuance, it
describes the world as having as no ultimate meaning,
a concept shared with some philosophies. The meanings
of emptiness and lacking in reality are already
present
in the Latin vanitas, from which the English word
"vanity" is derived. This approaches the chief Old
Testament understanding that human life apart from
God,
even at its best, has no ultimate significance and
consequently is valueless. This theme characterizes
the Book of Ecclesiastes, which begins with "Vanity of
vanities! All is vanity" (1:2 NRSV), words that have
become classical in the languages into which the Bible
has been translated. In viewing life without God
the believer is on the same level as the unbeliever in
recognizing the desperateness of life. 


Hebel [l,b,h], the Hebrew for vanity, as its Arabic
cognate, suggests a wind or vapor. Man's life is like
a breath (Psalm 39:5). The development of vanity as
reflecting the despair of human life in Ecclesiastes
shows to some commentators that its author was a
skeptic, an agnostic, or a rationalist, as its
message seemed to contradict the prophetic message
that Israel place its hope in God. The tension between
hope and hopelessness can be resolved in realizing
that
the inspired writer is expressing his emotions apart
from his life as a believer. It does not suggest that
he has gone after other gods, but rather he views life
apart from God. Searching for wisdom is no more
productive than striving after the wind (1:14, 17).
All work (4:8), wealth (2:1-17), and varied
experiences (4:7) add nothing to life's meaning. Human
life is of equal value with that of animals (3:19-20).
Though vanity is the theme of Ecclesiastes, the idea
is found elsewhere. It is the despair and frustration
in seeing that projected goals are unrealized as with
Job
(7:3), David (2 Sam 18:31-33), and Elijah (1 Kings
19:4). Despair is lacking in Jesus, who in the
forsakenness of death places his confidence in God
(Matt 27:46). In the Sermon on the Mount he uses the
transience of life to engender in Christians          
confidence as God's children (Matt 6:25-33). The other
biblical usage of vanity condemns idolatrous religions
and philosophies as useless. Gentiles or pagans
failing to recognize the true God live in the vanity
of their minds. Their unbelief is caused by ignorance
and hardness of heart (Eph 4:17-24). The vanity of
false
worship is of no value, as it fails to see that other
religions and philosophies lead only to damnation.
Vanity as a despair of value of human life thus
destroying confidence in self, abilities, and
possessions can be of value if faith is allowed to
focus on him with whom true joys are to be found. 

                                                      
  
 


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