Shedding Light on the Christian Faith of Vincent van Gogh

The Starry Night, 1889.
Vincent van Gogh spent his life in sacrificial service for the sake of Christ, pouring himself out in ministry, giving away what he owned to provide for others, and sharing the Gospel through his brush and canvas. Van Gogh used Victor Hugo's Les Miserables as his inspiration for The Starry Night in which, as scholar William Havlicek has noted, “the stars are painted like flowers. There is an interaction between the earth and heaven. It is as if heaven is reaching down. Starlight implies in Vincent’s view that the darkness of sin, guilt, and death are overcome by divinely mediated grace.”
The Good Samaritan, 1890.

Singer Don McLean in his homage, entitled Vincent, wrote:

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul

Flowering Peach Trees, 1888.
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land

Now I understand what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue

The Sower, 1888.
Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand

Now I understand what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry, starry night
You took your life as lovers often do
But I could have told you, Vincent,
This world was never meant for one
As beautiful as you

Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frameless heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget
Like the strangers that we’ve met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know what you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will

Cafe Terrace at Night, 1888.

 In Vincent van Gogh's Unappreciated Journey with Christ, an article written by Mark Ellis, we read of William Havlicek's research that resulted in his book, Van Gogh's Untold Story.

Havlicek reports that, “Vincent’s letters portray a very different story than the popular tale of the mad artist who cuts off his ear. What emerges instead is a story of selfless loyalty, the epitome of the Gospel’s sacred counsel – ‘love one another.’”

 Ellis notes that, "Van Gogh died under unusual circumstances in what most label a suicide, but Havlicek has some doubts. 'No gun was ever found,' [Havlicek] says, and there were no powder burns near the fatal wound to his abdomen.

"Two boys admitted they were target shooting near van Gogh and had an encounter with him that appears suspicious. 'One wrote a confessional letter years later saying they were harassing van Gogh. He didn’t admit he shot him, but he said there were things he did to him he wish he’d never done.'"
Ellis goes on to note, "Havlicek believes that if he was shot accidentally by the boys, it was consistent with Vincent’s character to withhold that information. 'He had a very sacrificial aspect to his personality. There were several times in his life when he took the blame for someone else,' [Havlicek] says. Vincent lingered for two days after the fatal shot. When he was interviewed by police, Vincent said, 'I’m hurt but don’t blame anybody else.'"

 "He loved Christ enormously ...," Havlicek concluded, and "in spite of a broken life, something glorious emerged."
I hope you'll read Havlicek's book and I hope you'll visit the following web pages to learn more about Vincent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW10ScrhbGE
https://www.facebook.com/vincentwillemvangogh/videos/10151806296310039/?pnref=story
Vincent Willem Van Gogh, 1888.




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