Titus 1:12 ESV – One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

Ok Paul. If Cretans are always liars, why should we trust the saying of a Cretan?

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Paul refers to this Cretan prophet twice in the New Testament, with this passage being the second occurence.

The first occurrence was when Paul preached to the men of Athens in Acts 17:28, when Paul stated

In him we live and move and have our being.

The Cretan prophet that Paul quotes in both of these passages is a greek philosopher by the name of Epimenides of Crete.

It is instructive to note that Paul’s method of connecting with the men of Athens was to bring a part of their experience into his preaching, finding a point where the men could identify somewhat with Paul’s message. Of course that is slim pickings, since the greek philosopher had little in common with Christian thought, but the effort was there!

In the Titus passage, we see Paul again quoting Epimenides, but in this verse he makes what seems to be a absolute claim – that is that all Cretans – every single last Cretan that has ever sucked breath, every one of them is a liar.

Now of course this verse includes what is famously referred to a the liars paradox. If Epimenides is telling the truth, then the statement is a lie, for he is a Cretan. If Epimenides is lying, then the statement is true, which debunks the statement. This is an unwinnable unsolvable paradox IF we are woodenly literal and apply it without any common sense.

When Epimenides makes this statement, it is assumed that his claim is based on truth. We cannot take the “always” with a literal constant and permanent application to the statement for it becomes incoherent.

Let us read the Word with a sense of wonder and not apply a constriction that only serves to frustrate the message. Let us be reasonable in our understanding of the Word, and seek out the intentions of the message, the application of the message and the motivations of the message that has been provided and safe guarded for His people for millennium.

He is True, and not a liar!

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