As a Math Geek I can’t help but chuckle at Titus 1:12 which reads, “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: `Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’ “ I hope that you see the humor. If the statement is true, then a Cretan has told the truth, which then makes the statement false. This is an example of a self-referential statement, many of which lead to contradictions. Here is a similar statement. In a certain village there is a barber who shaves all those, and only those, men of the village who do not shave themselves. We see a contradiction when we ask, “Does the barber shave himself?” The connection to mathematics comes through Russell’s paradox. At the beginning of the twentieth century mathematicians were working to base all of mathematics on the newly discovered theory of sets. This was interrupted when in 1901 a young Bertrand Russell came up with a contradiction in set theory with a statement analogous to the barber’s paradox. The issue was later resolved by requiring sets to be defined in certain very explicit manners. 

 The book of Titus is a letter from Paul to Titus, who was on the Greek Island of Crete. Titus had been given the responsibility of caring for the newly established church on Crete, and the letter described the challenges presented by the Cretans and their culture, gave advice about meeting those challenges, and in the process gave many general insights into Christian truths. In our single verse 12, Paul does two things. First, he shows off; the Cretan prophet he refers to is the sixth century BC Cretan Greek poet Epimenides. This shows that not only was Paul educated in the Jewish Law, but that he had a classical education also. I think that he is also interjecting a little humor (not something I usually associate with Paul). I’m sure he saw the contradiction and for emphasis even started verse 13 with “This saying is true.” This was an effective way of pointing out the Cretans’ faults. They were especially known for lying; indeed, for other Greeks of the time “to Cretanize” meant to lie.

 Because of the nature of the Cretan people, Titus needed all of Paul’s advice. In fact Paul’s advice is timeless and clearly was intended to extend well beyond the recipient. Someone said that Paul wrote as though he was talking on a party line expecting us to listen in. To listen in on some of Paul’s advice read Titus 3:1-11 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.
Jim