Does Life Have a Purpose?
“‘Why are we here?’ is the most important question a human being has to face. . . . I believe that life has meaning in spite of the meaningless death I have seen. Death has no meaning, life has.”
THESE words were written by Elie Wiesel, well-known writer and survivor of Nazi concentration camps. He was one of many who answered a question posed by Life magazine: “Why are we here?” He had seen life at its very worst, yet he was convinced that life has meaning.
Not everyone, however, agreed. A taxi driver named José Martínez answered the same question in this way: “We’re here to die, just live and die. I drive a cab. I do some fishing, take my girl out, pay taxes, do a little reading, then get ready to drop dead . . . Life is a big fake.” To José, life evidently has no meaning, no purpose.
Surprisingly, a number of educated people appeared to agree with the taxi driver rather than with the writer. Evolutionists Richard E. Leakey and Roger Lewin, in their book Origins, suggest: “Perhaps the human species is just a ghastly biological blunder, having evolved beyond a point at which it can thrive in harmony with itself and the world around it.” At least to them, human life is meaningless.
Similarly, evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould wrote: “We are here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could transform into legs for terrestrial creatures; . . . because a small and tenuous species, arising in Africa a quarter of a million years ago, has managed, so far, to survive by hook and by crook. We may yearn for a ‘higher’ answer—but none exists.” To Gould, human life is a meaningless accident.
Gould is correct in at least one respect. Many do yearn for a “higher” answer than the one he proposes. In times of tragedy, many think like 11-year-old Jason. This young boy wrote of the death of a young friend: “When my friend Kim died from her cancer I asked my Mom if God was going to make Kim die when she was only 6, why did he make her born at all?” Jason instinctively felt that life should have a purpose, and the sad death of his young friend seemed to frustrate that purpose.
The Importance of the Question
Is it important to know whether life has a purpose or not? Is this just a philosophical question, or one that should concern you? Many have lived out their lives without giving the matter much thought. And if José Martínez is correct, theirs might have been a wise course to follow.
If, though, Elie Wiesel is correct and life does have meaning, surely we should try to discover what it is. Otherwise, we could miss out on the whole point of the wonderful adventure of living. It would be like walking through an art gallery without looking at the pictures or sitting in a restaurant without ordering a meal.
How can we find out whether life has a purpose or not? In the next article, we will discuss some facts that help to solve this problem.