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I may have bailed on my Word post last week, but this Friday I’m back with a vengeance… a vengeance for the people of Crete! Actually, I don’t have anything against the Cretans, but it seems like you won’t find Paul wearing an “I ♥ Crete” shirt. The same dude who told us to do everything in love now sounds like he’s demonizing an entire race. What’s up?
Paul, why you gotta be such a hater?
If I learned anything a few weeks back when we covered Paul’s apparent sexism, it’s that when I encounter passages like this it can be helpful to dig a bit deeper. While doing my minutes of intense Wikipedia research on Titus, I found out something interesting about this passage. Apparently Paul is quoting something called the “Epimenides paradox.”
One of the secular peculiarities of the Epistle to Titus is the inclusion of text which has become known as the Epimenides paradox. According to the World English Bible translation, Titus 1:12-13 reads (in part) “One of them, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, and idle gluttons.’ This testimony is true.” The statement by a member of a group that all members are liars is now a famous logic problem. He leaves the character judgment of the people on Crete up to their own prophet. (Wikipedia)
So after reading that, I have two questions. Number one, if this “logic problem” is so famous, how come I’ve never heard about it until today? And two, what in the world does that all mean? I think I’m more confused now that before I read that. Paul judged an entire people group based on one prophet? I really hope Paul and Crete are not just the Nahum and Nineveh of the New Testament.
I’m putting out the Theonerd call on this one. Help! I’m too stupid to understand this! Please drop some wisdom in the comments!
Design Nerdery
I gotta confess, this design was a tough one. Many times I’ll read through a book and there will be a few passages that visually pop out to me. That didn’t happen for Titus, even after reading through it several times. It’s tough when that happens, but it’s also a good opportunity to force myself to find a solution, even if it’s not my best work. I’m pretty sure this is the exact scenario Jesus had in mind when he talked about everyone having their own “cross to bear.”
Earlier this week, I saw a really cool Bible verse design on Dribbble from Chandler Van De Water. Chandler is an awesome designer/developer from Greenville, SC works for NewSpring Church. When I hit my Titus roadblock, I remembered Chandler’s design and decided to take a stab at that style. Thanks for the inspiration, Chandler!
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I will try my best with the ‘theonerd’ part.
One important aspect that Paul’s audience would have recognized about his reference to Epimenides’ quotation (which Paul truncates) is the very reason for Epimenides’ making the statement in the first place.
The Cretans were famous for claiming to have Zeus’ tomb on their island, and such a claim was the basis of Epimenides’ original poetic attack. The section that Paul quotes from actually begins as such:
For even a tomb, O King, of you
They made, who never died, but aye shall be.
It goes on to state that Zeus is not dead but lives forever, for in him we live and move and have our being, which Paul also quotes to the Athenians.
The Cretans claim to have the tomb of Zeus, which, from Epidemides’ understanding, is absurd since the divine nature is not prone to death. Thus, those who would claim to have Zeus’ tomb are foolish and could only be considered liars to perpetuate such an error. It eventually became something of a running joke, in that to ‘Cretanize’ meant ‘to lie’ or ‘to be a liar.’
In the same way, Paul is warning Titus against those from Crete who were advancing a type of Jewish Gnosticism. (which is, admittedly, a horribly imprecise term..) Paul’s argument is one of authority- his opponents are proposing what he terms ‘myths,’ rather than the teaching handed down from the apostles. For them to perpetuate this sort of teaching could only be considered rebellious. (As far as I am aware, the term Paul uses refers to being insubordinate, which seems apropos of his appointing Titus over Crete and giving him instruction on who and who not to appoint as elders.) Since they know what the truth as handed down from the apostles is, to rebel against it and to teach differently is essentially to lie.
Thus, Paul’s use of Epimenides is meant to have some irony, especially for those teaching that circumcision is required, in that by lumping them together with their Cretan progenitors (who were pagan) he aligns them with those who make claims that are understood to be self-evidently absurd, as the location of Zeus’ tomb on Crete was understood to be. Additionally, it has the rhetorical barb of rebuking his Jewish opponents by means of a pagan poet.
I think the clincher is a few verses down where Paul says this:
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.
If we were to apply this to the way in which Paul uses the quotation, his opponents are like Cretans who claim that Zeus is divine but build him a tomb.
As far him hating on the Cretans- I think it’s a mistake to take ‘doing everything in love’ as being equivalent to ‘doing everything in a nice way.’ Paul describes his opponents as rebellious and corrupted both in mind and conscience. From Paul’s perspective the time for pleasantries has long since past, and now only sharp rebukes have any chance of getting through. Paul even encourages Titus to take a similar approach, in that he is to encourage and rebuke with all authority.
hope that’s helpful!
Thanks, Mr. Monk! That was a far better explanation that I could have ever hoped for.
It seems like usually people have the theonerd superpower OR designerd super power. Not sure how you have excelled at both, but I’m jealous.
BTW, I forgot to mention that this design is sweet! nice job :-)
He’s using a popular saying from one of their own prophets to condemn them for being liars, beasts, and gluttons. Not a big deal. Mainly not a big deal because he is not even writing to the people of crete rather to an individual Titus who is being left in charge of actually seeing the church separate themselves from that kind of a reputation. Unfortunately Paul and Titus challenges remain the same today. Trying to get the church to look less like the lying, gluttonous beasts today that reflect the cheating, consuming, monsters of our western society. God help us. God give us apostles and laborers like Paul and Titus today.
I thought the point of the paradox is that it is a Cretan prophet who says it, so if it is true then he is a liar and what he says is not reliable… this makes the whole quote sound like Paul is actually making a joke!