Books
Review

We’re So Vain

‘Vainglorious’, that is. Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung examines an obscure vice that entraps us all.

Shutterstock

Glorious men,” wrote the philosopher Francis Bacon, “are the scorn of wise men, the admiration of fools, the idols of parasites, and the slaves of their own vaunts.” The subject of his essay was vainglory, an old-fashioned word that describes the desire to be noticed and praised.

Vainglory: The Forgotten Vice

Vainglory: The Forgotten Vice

Eerdmans

167 pages

$14.16

As vices go, vainglory sounds as quaint as a Victorian buttonhook. Yet it’s as vexing a problem today as when the church fathers included it among the deadly sins (as a subset of Pride). In Vainglory: The Forgotten Vice (Eerdmans), Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, who teaches philosophy at Calvin College, provides an exceedingly relevant and fascinating examination of a concept we ought to rescue from obsolescence.

The book begins with helpful definitions. Vain, the more familiar half of the word, simply means empty. DeYoung calls upon medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas, from whom the book draws heavily, to define glory as goodness made “apparent and manifest in its splendor” or, more concisely, “goodness that is displayed.”

The manifesting of goodness, DeYoung writes, is “necessary and beneficial to human flourishing.” Indeed, the very nature of goodness, according to Aquinas, is to “communicate itself”—or, as DeYoung puts it, to radiate outward. Goodness rightly asks for recognition.

Christians are particularly susceptible to vainglory. After all, we are a people who strive both to make goodness manifest and to recognize it where it appears. The danger comes when we’re tempted to replace a desire for good with a desire for the applause that naturally follows.

Thus, DeYoung writes, as with all foundational human desires, vainglory’s “deep appeal drives us to seek attention in many disordered ways.” Whether cultivated inwardly by pride or fear, or fed externally by others’ high expectations, the pursuit of praise (rather than the good at its root) readily becomes a powerful habit. The vainglorious person might begin innocently, rightfully earning honor for some praiseworthy quality or accomplishment. But before long, the thirst for applause and recognition becomes overpowering. It’s not hard to think of politicians, athletes, and musicians who started out with pure motives but eventually fell prey to vainglory.

Perhaps no one has better understood vainglory’s lure than the monastics of the early church. The church fathers (DeYoung cites them generously) made searching connections between vainglory and its offshoots, such as boasting, hypocrisy, obstinacy, contention, and discord. Today vainglory is often conflated with pride, but the early church recognized important distinctions we have since lost. According to DeYoung, the “prideful desire superiority, and the vainglorious desire the show of superiority.” Such careful parsing offers helpful insights into the subtleties of human nature and sinfulness.

Vainglory is more than an intellectual exercise, however. As DeYoung points out, naming a vice helps to distinguish between symptom and cause and points to means of correction. Accordingly, the latter part of the book first examines vainglory’s opposite, magnanimity (greatness of soul), and then outlines some practices to point us there. Though the book’s diagnosis is more compelling than its remedies, DeYoung does recommend some worthwhile spiritual disciplines, like silence and solitude, foundational to the desert fathers.

Our culture, driven by publicity, spin, and social media, is rife with vainglory. DeYoung points out that the envy that tends to accompany vainglory makes it difficult for Christians to celebrate goodness together or to share struggles and failures. Freedom from vainglory, she writes, “comes from giving up the mirrors, the artificial lighting, and the careful poses and instead resting in the knowledge that we are, from the first to the last, beloved in God’s sight.”

This book is goodness made manifest and should be widely read.

Karen Swallow Prior teaches English at Liberty University. She is the author of Fierce Convictions—The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More: Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist (Thomas Nelson).

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

Is This the End for Mideast Christianity?

My Top 5 Books for Reading in the Wilderness

God Always Heals

Review

Our Bodies Were Made for You, O Lord

If Everything Is Awesome, Where Does That Leave God?

Why You Can't Read Scripture Alone

How Pastors Are Passing the Leadership Baton

Testimony

How a French Atheist Becomes a Theologian

Be Pioneers of Grace in a Post-Christian America

News

Segregated Surveys: How Politics Keeps Evangelicals White

Where Are All the Good Stories about Marriage?

Editorial

Domestic Neglect: Can You Hear the Silent Screams at Home?

Can Worship Leaders and Musicians Resist the Temptation to 'Perform'?

News

Why Nigerian Health Officials Turned to a Megachurch Pastor When Ebola Struck

News

Does My Local Church Have Authority to Declare That I Am Not a Christian?

Nancy Writebol: Ebola Is a Spiritual Battle

News

Brazil's Values Voters

Light-Bulb Moments

News

Gleanings: November 2014

New & Noteworthy Books

Reply All

View issue

Our Latest

Which Church in Revelation Is Yours Like?

From the lukewarm Laodicea to the overachieving Ephesus, these seven ancient congregations struggled with relatable problems.

Be Afraid

Be Afraid Bonus Episode 3: Scott Teems

Sometimes, thereโ€™s safety in numbers.

News

In Appalachia, Helene’s Water Crisis Taps a Global Christian Response

North Carolina churches are seeing people suffering dehydration. Disaster groups that work overseas are showing up to help.

Public Theology Project

The Bible Doesnโ€™t Fit an Information Age

Algorithms strip us of mystery. The Gospels restore our ability to be astonished by the truth.

Wire Story

Evangelicals for Harris Asked to โ€˜Cease and Desistโ€™ Billy Graham Ad

Franklin Graham says the campaign is โ€œtrying to mislead peopleโ€ by positioning his fatherโ€™s preaching in contrast to Donald Trump.

Facing My Limits in a Flood Zone

As a minister, Iโ€™m used to helping people during crisis. But trapped at home during Hurricane Helene, I could only care for who was in front of me.

5 Lessons Christians Can Learn from the Barmen Declaration

How a wartime confession resisted Hitlerโ€™s Nazification of the German church, and why its principles are still relevant today.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube