From an unused root; kenos means empty, vain, without content, without result, without truth. Distinct from mataios (futile, purposeless) — kenos emphasizes emptiness of substance. Used for vain speech, empty teaching, and faith without works.
The word kenos appears in some of the most theologically critical passages in Paul. 1 Corinthians 15:14 makes the case for the necessity of the resurrection: 'And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is empty (kenon) and your faith is also empty.' Without the resurrection, Christianity is drained of all content — it becomes kenos, a hollow shell. This is the ultimate theological stake of Easter. Galatians 2:2 expresses Paul's fear that his missionary work might somehow have been kenos — run in vain. Philippians 2:16 holds out the opposite as motivation: working so that Paul's effort was not kenos. The NT consistently demands substance in Christian faith and practice. James 2:20 applies the same principle to faith and works: 'Faith without deeds is useless (arges / essentially kenos).' The answer to spiritual kenos is Christ: in whom 'all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form' (Col. 2:9).