Shock! Horror! The Bible contains a falsehood! Those for whom the absolute inerrancy of the Bible is a vital cornerstone of their faith should read no further. I mean it. Look away now.
The lying Cretan has sometimes been cited as an example of a paradox - a statement which can be neither true nor false. “This statement is false” is such a paradox. If true, then by its own admission it is false. And if false then its claim to be false is untrue, hence it must instead be true.
In his letter to Titus, chapter 1, Paul writes about the poor reputation the people of Crete have. One of their own number has gone on record regarding the nature of his fellow islanders. In verse 12 Paul says, “One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’”
Tidying up the language a bit (without losing any aspects essential to the following logical argument) we could rephrase this as “A Cretan has said, ‘All Cretans are liars.’” It looks like a paradox. But it isn’t. Here’s how it is sometimes presented:
If the statement ‘all Cretans are liars’ is true, then the person who spoke it, being a Cretan is a liar and hence his statement is false. (Perfectly good logic so far.) If the statement ‘all Cretans are liars’ is false, then Cretans tell the truth, and since the statement was made by a Cretan it must be true. (Whoa there! This is not good logic. Back up a bit.)
If the statement ‘all Cretans are liars’ is false, why do we conclude all Cretans tell the truth? The most we can conclude is ‘not all Cretans are liars’. Or, if you prefer, ‘Some Cretans tell the truth.’ If there is only one truth-teller living on Crete, then ‘all Cretans are liars’ is false. There is no paradox here. The statement ‘all Cretans are liars’ cannot be true. But it can be false. And indeed, by the laws of logic, it is false. Some Cretans tell lies - at least one of them does - and the speaker is one of those liars. Some Cretans (again, at least one) tell the truth. And it’s a good job too, otherwise where is Titus going to find all the people of unimpeachable character to appoint as elders? (As Paul exhorts him to do earlier in the chapter.)
So the ‘prophet’ Paul quotes is a Cretan and a liar. His statement that ‘all Cretans are liars’ is false. No paradox. But also no problems with Biblical inerrancy. (Yet.) Paul’s statement that a certain prophet said a certain thing could easily be true, even if the quote itself is a lie.
But here’s the falsehood. Verse 13. “This testimony is true.” No, it’s not. The Cretan prophet is lying through his teeth. His testimony cannot possibly be true. His testimony is demonstrably false and verse 13 is therefore (whisper it in hushed tones) wrong.
You, dear reader, may already have concluded that certain statements in the Bible are not true. Not in a literal sense anyway. For example, Genesis 1 tells of God making the world in six days. You may not believe this is true. But I suspect your lack of belief is due to approaching the statements of Genesis 1 with some preconceptions about how long it took for the world to reach the state it is in now. Others can argue that it is your preconceptions which are false and the Biblical account which is true.
My analysis of Titus 1:12-13 relies on no preconceptions about Crete or Paul or Titus. No preconceptions about Cretans or their truthfulness or lack of it. I have simply approached the words of the Bible with logic, and there is only one possible conclusion. Verse 13 is false.
Conclusion? At least one of the statements in the Bible is not true.
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