Pastor's column: The meaning of life
by PASTOR CURTIS WIENS
First Baptist Church, Durham
The famous French artist, Paul Gauguin, was a sailor then a stockbroker. In 1885, Gauguin left his wife and five children to take up life as an artist. He spent much time overseas before spending his final years in poverty, disease, and despair in Tahiti.
It was during this time in Tahiti that Gauguin painted his masterpiece, a three-paneled work entitled "Where do we come from?," "What are we?," and "Where are we going?"
The first panel shows three women and a child, representing the beginning of life: "Where do we come from?" The middle panel shows the daily existence of young adults: "What are we?" The third panel shows an old woman approaching death: "Where are we going?"
The three questions are written in small print on the bottom corner of the painting. They are the questions Gauguin wished to answer - the universal human questions of us all.
Science cannot answer these questions, for science can only observe the physical realm. Humanism cannot answer these questions, because it only deals with the present.
Only the Bible has the answers to these ancient questions. Only the Bible can tell you where you come from. Only the Bible can tell you why you are here. Only the Bible can tell you where you are going after death.
Do you want the answers to life's really important questions? Read your Bible.
