Artist Tried to Portray Deep Questions
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 in the bottom corner of the painting. They are the questions Gauguin wished to answer—the universal human questions of us all.
Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin
1848-1903
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 (Genesis 1:1).
Only the Bible call tell you why you are here (Colossians 1:16). Only the Bible can tell you where you are going after death (Hebrews 9:27).
Want the answers to life’s really important questions? Read your Bible.