Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually

It is Ecclesiastes' sharply critical attitude towards human conduct and the instability of earthly existence that has caught the attention of that great Cappadocian bishop, Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-c.395), who composed his own commentary on this book. He takes up the task by subjecting the book of Ecclesiastes to exhaustive analysis to the third chapter, verse thirteen. Gregory attempts to explore the book's meaning and bearing upon Christian faith and conduct, for Ecclesiastes reveals a profound gulf between its dominant motif, "vanity of vanities," and Christian hope as presented in the Gospel. However, we must acknowledge that no book of the Old Testament so challenges Christian faith for a response to the questions it asks which are as old as our search for life's meaning. Even a cursory reading both of the book of Ecclesiastes and Gregory of Nyssa's commentary upon it show the fundamental theme of vanity, another word for the transitory character of this world.