Crete

Biblical References

• Acts 2:11: Among those gathered in Jerusalem who heard the gospel in their own languages when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost were "Cretes."
• Acts 27: When Paul was being taken as a prisoner to Rome, the ship sailed under the lee of Crete, passed Salmone, and reached a place called "The fair havens," which was near the city of Lasea. Paul advised against continuing the voyage. The master of the ship and the centurion, however, set sail for Phenice, a harbor better suited for wintering, and were caught in a tempestuous wind called "Euroclydon." Paul later said, "Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss" (Acts 27:21).
• Epistle to Titus: Paul left Titus in Crete to "ordain elders in every city" (Titus 1:5). Titus 1:12 quotes a Cretan "prophet": "The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies." In Titus 3:12 Paul says he will send Artemas or Tychicus to Titus and asks Titus to come to him at Nicopolis at that time.

Background

Crete is a long, mountainous island running east to west and is known as the home of the Minoan civilization, which flourished in the second millennium BC. Rome conquered the island in the first century BC and governed it together with Cyrene in North Africa as a single province. The island is known to have had a Jewish community. The Fair Havens of Acts 27 is commonly identified with Kaloi Limenes on the island's southern coast.

The name "Crete" does not appear directly in the Old Testament. Some scholars, however, identify Caphtor, mentioned as the place of origin of the Philistines (Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 47:4), with Crete. Others connect the "Cherethites," who served as David's bodyguard (2 Samuel 8:18), with Crete. Scholarly opinion is divided on both identifications.

Interpretation and Issues

• Timing of Paul's ministry in Crete: Acts records no ministry by Paul in Crete. The traditional view holds that Paul evangelized Crete after his release from his first imprisonment in Rome. By contrast, scholars who regard the Pastoral Epistles, including Titus, as the work of a generation after Paul do not read this scene as part of a historical itinerary.
• The quotation in Titus 1:12: Since the time of the early church fathers, this saying has been attributed to the Cretan poet Epimenides, although the text itself does not name him. In context, the quotation is used to rebuke the false teachers who were troubling the church (Titus 1:10–11). For this reason, many interpreters do not extend the verse into a general judgment about a particular people.
• Titus as bishop: The account that Titus became the first bishop of Crete is a church tradition and is not stated in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Titus 1:5–9 is frequently cited together with 1 Timothy 3 in discussions of the qualifications for elders, and it is also used as a sermon text at ordination services. The storm narrative of Acts 27 is often used in sermons on faith amid suffering.