Homily 3 — Titus 1, verse 12, to 2, verse 1

“One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.’ This testimony is true. So rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish fables and to the commands of people who turn away from the truth.” [a]

There are several questions here. First, who was it that said this? Second, why did Paul quote it? Third, why does he bring forward a testimony that is not correct? Let us, then, give a fitting answer to these, after first laying down some other things.

When Paul was speaking to the Athenians, in the course of his speech he quoted these words, “To the Unknown God,” and again, “For we are also his offspring, as some of your own poets have said” (Acts 17, verses 23 and 28). It was Epimenides who said this, a Cretan himself. The Cretans had a tomb of Jupiter with this inscription: “Here lies Zan, whom they call Jove.” Because of this inscription, then, the poet, mocking the Cretans as liars, goes on to add this passage to make the mockery sharper:

If, then, this testimony is true, see what a difficulty arises! For if the poet who said they were lying is telling the truth, then he was right to assert that Jupiter is immortal — and Paul says, “This testimony is true”! What shall we say, then? Or rather, how shall we solve this? The apostle did not say this. He simply and plainly applied the testimony to their habit of lying. Otherwise, why did he not add, “For they even made a tomb for you, O king”? So the apostle did not say this, but only that someone had put it well: “Cretans are always liars.” Besides, it is not from this alone that we are sure Jupiter is not a god. We can prove it from many other arguments, and not from the testimony of the Cretans. Moreover, Paul did not say that it was in this that they were liars. No, it is more likely that they were deceived on this point too; for they believed in other gods, and that is why the apostle calls them liars. [d]

As for the question why he cites the testimonies of the Greeks: it is because we put them to shame most of all when we bring our testimonies and charges from their own writers, when we make men they themselves admire into their accusers. That is why elsewhere he quotes the words “To the Unknown God.” The Athenians did not receive all their gods from the beginning, but from time to time took in some new one, such as the gods that came from the Hyperboreans, the worship of Pan, and the greater and the lesser mysteries. So these same people, guessing that besides these there might be some other god whom they did not know, set up an altar to him, as good as saying, “in case there is some god unknown to us.” So Paul said to them: The one you have acknowledged in advance, him I proclaim to you.

But the words “We are also his offspring” are quoted from Aratus, who first says, “The paths of the earth are full of Jupiter, the sea is full,” and then adds, “For we are also his offspring.” He meant Jupiter. But what was neither justly nor properly applied to Jupiter, Paul gives back to God, since the name of God belongs to him alone and is not rightly given to idols.

And from what writers should he have spoken to them? From the prophets? They would not have believed them. In the same way, with the Jews too he does not argue from the Gospels but from the prophets. That is why he says, “To the Jews I became as a Jew; to those without the law, as one without the law; to those under the law, as one under the law” (First Corinthians 9, verses 20 and 21). [g]

God does the same. Take the wise men: he did not lead them by an angel, or a prophet, or an apostle, or an evangelist. How, then? By a star. Since their art had made them familiar with the stars, he used such means to guide them. So too with the cattle that drew the ark: “If it goes up by the way of its own border, then it is he who has done us this great harm” (First Samuel 6, verse 9), as their prophets suggested. Do those prophets speak the truth, then? No; but he refutes them and silences them out of their own mouths. Again, in the case of the witch: because Saul believed in her, God made him hear through her what was about to happen to him.

Why, then, did Paul stop the mouth of the spirit that said, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation” (Acts 16, verse 17)? And why did Christ prevent the demons from speaking about him? In those cases there was a reason, since the miracles were taking place. For there it was not a star that proclaimed him, but he himself. And again, the demons were not worshiped; for it was not an image that spoke, that it should be forbidden.

He also allowed Balaam to bless, and did not stop him. In this way he everywhere stoops down to meet us. And why wonder at it? He even allowed mistaken opinions, unworthy of himself, to prevail: the opinion, held in earlier times, that he was a body, and that he could be seen. Against this he says, “God is a Spirit” (John 4, verse 24). Again, the opinion that he delighted in sacrifices, which is far from his nature. And he speaks words at odds with what he declares about himself, and many such things. For nowhere does he consider his own dignity, but always what will be useful to us. If a father does not consider his own dignity, but talks baby talk with his children, and calls their food and drink not by their Greek names but by some childish, outlandish words, much more does God. Even in rebuking he stoops down to meet us, as when he says through the prophet, “Has a nation changed its gods?” (Jeremiah 2, verse 11). And in every part of Scripture there are examples of his stooping down to meet us, both in words and in actions.

Verse 13: “So rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith.” [j]

He says this because their character was contrary, deceitful, and loose-living. They have countless bad qualities like these; and because they are given to lying, deceiving, gluttony, and laziness, severe rebuke is needed. Characters like these will not be managed by mildness: “so rebuke them.” He is not speaking here of the pagans, but of his own people.

“Sharply.” Give them, he says, a blow that cuts deep. One method is not to be used with everyone; people must be dealt with differently, according to their various characters and dispositions. Here he does not resort to exhortation. For just as the one who treats the gentle and open-hearted harshly may destroy them, so the one who flatters someone who needs severity causes him to perish, and does not let him be brought back.

“So that they may be sound in the faith.”

This, then, is soundness: to bring in nothing counterfeit or foreign. But if those who are scrupulous about foods are not sound, but sick and weak — for he says, “Welcome those who are weak, but not to argue over their scruples” (Romans 14, verse 1) — what can be said of those who keep the same fasts as the Jews, who keep the Sabbaths, who go to the places the Jews hold sacred? I mean the one at Daphne, the one called the cave of Matrona, and that plain in Cilicia which is called Saturn’s. How are these people sound? With them a heavier blow is needed. Why, then, does he not do the same with the Romans? Because their dispositions were different: they were of a nobler character.

Verse 14: “Not paying attention,” he says, “to Jewish fables.” [m]

The Jewish teachings were fables in two ways: because they were copies, and because the thing was past its time; for such things become fables in the end. When a thing ought not to be done, and doing it does harm, it is a fable, as being useless. So just as those are not to be heeded, neither are these. For this is not being sound. If you believe the faith, why do you add other things, as though faith were not enough to have you counted righteous? Why do you enslave yourself by putting yourself under the law? Have you no confidence in what you believe? This is the mark of an unsound and unbelieving mind. The one who is faithful does not doubt; but such a person plainly does doubt.

Verse 15: “To the pure,” he says, “all things are pure.”

You see that this is said with a particular purpose in view.

“But to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure.” Things, then, are not clean or unclean by their own nature, but by the disposition of the one who partakes of them.

“But even their mind and conscience are defiled.” [n]

Verse 16: “They profess that they know God, but by their works they deny him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good work.”

The pig, then, is clean. Why, then, was it forbidden as unclean? It was not unclean by nature, for “all things are pure.” Nothing is more unclean than a fish, since it even feeds on human flesh; yet it was permitted and counted clean. Nothing is more unclean than a bird, for it eats worms; or than a deer, which is said to get its name from eating snakes. Yet all these were eaten. Why, then, was the pig forbidden, and many other things? Not because they were unclean, but to check excessive luxury. But had this been said, they would not have been persuaded; so they were held back by the fear of uncleanness.

For tell me: if we look closely into these things, what is more unclean than wine, or than water, with which they mostly purified themselves? They did not touch the dead, and yet they were cleansed by the dead; for the sacrificed animal was dead, and with it they were cleansed. This, then, was a teaching for children. Is not dung part of what goes into wine? For as the vine draws moisture from the earth, so it does from the dung that is thrown around it. In short, if we want to be very particular, everything is unclean; if we choose not to be particular, nothing is unclean. Yet all things are pure. God made nothing unclean, for nothing is unclean except sin alone. For that reaches the soul and defiles it. Every other uncleanness is human prejudice.

“But to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” [o]

For how can there be anything unclean among the pure? But the one who has a weak soul makes everything unclean; and if a scrupulous inquiry into what is clean or unclean is set on foot, he will touch nothing. For by their way of thinking even these things are not clean — I mean fish and the rest — (for “their mind and conscience,” he says, “are defiled”), but all are impure. Yet Paul does not say so; he turns the whole matter back on them. Nothing is unclean, he says, but they themselves, their mind and their conscience; and nothing is more unclean than these. It is an evil will that is unclean.

“They profess that they know God, but by their works they deny him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good work.” Chapter 2, verse 1: “But as for you, speak the things that fit sound teaching.”

This, then, is uncleanness: they themselves are unclean. But you, do not be silent on that account. Do your part, even though they may not receive you. Advise and counsel them, even though they may not be persuaded. Here he rebukes them more severely.

For those who are out of their minds imagine that nothing stands still; yet this comes not from the things they see, but from the eyes that see them. Because they are unsteady and dizzy, they think the earth spins around with them, though it does not spin but stands firm. The disorder is in their own condition, not in anything that has happened to the ground. So it is here: when the soul is unclean, it thinks all things unclean. Scrupulous observances, then, are no mark of purity; it belongs to purity to be bold in all things. The one who is pure by nature ventures on all things; those who are defiled, on nothing. This we may say against Marcion.

Do you see that it is a mark of purity to rise above all defilement, and that to touch nothing shows impurity? This holds even with respect to God. That he took flesh is a proof of purity; if he had not taken it out of fear, there would have been defilement. The one who does not eat things that seem unclean is himself unclean and weak; the one who eats is neither. Let us not call such people pure; they are the unclean ones. That person is pure who dares to eat all things. All this caution we ought to use toward the things that defile the soul. For that is uncleanness, that is defilement; none of these other things is. People whose sense of taste is spoiled think that what is set before them is unclean, but this is the effect of their illness. We ought, therefore, to understand the nature of things pure and things unclean.

What, then, is unclean? Sin, malice, greed, wickedness. As it is written: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the evil of your doings” (Isaiah 1, verse 16). “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51, verse 10). “Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing” (Isaiah 52, verse 11). [p]

These observances were figures of purification. “Do not touch a dead body,” it is said: for sin is like that, dead and foul-smelling. “The leper is unclean”: for sin is a leprosy, mottled and taking many forms. That they had this meaning is clear from what follows. If the leprosy is general and spreads over the whole body, he is clean; if it is partial, he is unclean. So you see that what is varied and changeable is the unclean thing. Again, the man whose seed passes from him is unclean: think of one who is like that in soul, throwing away his seed. The one who is uncircumcised is unclean. These things are not allegories but types: the one who does not cut away the wickedness of his heart is the unclean person. The one who works on the Sabbath is to be stoned: that is, the one who is not at all times devoted to God will perish. You see how many kinds of uncleanness there are.

The woman who has just given birth is unclean. Yet God made childbirth, and the seed of intercourse. Why, then, is the woman unclean, unless something further was being suggested? And what was it? He meant to produce reverence in the soul and to deter it from sexual immorality. For if she who has borne a child is unclean, much more is she who has committed sexual immorality. If even going in to his own wife is not altogether pure, much less is lying with the wife of another. The one who attends a funeral is unclean; much more the one who has taken part in war and slaughter. Many kinds of uncleanness would be found, if we had to list them all. But these things are not required of us now; everything has been transferred to the soul.

For bodily things are nearer to us, so it was from these that he brought in instruction. But it is not so now. We ought not to be confined to figures and shadows, but to hold fast to the truth and uphold it: sin is the unclean thing. From that let us flee, from that let us keep away. “If you come near it, it will bite you” (Sirach 21, verse 2). [q]

Nothing is more unclean than greed. How is this clear? From the facts themselves. What does it not defile? The hands, the soul, the very house where the ill-gotten treasure is stored. But the Jews count this as nothing. And yet Moses carried away the bones of Joseph; Samson drank from the jawbone of a donkey and ate honey from the lion; and Elijah was fed by ravens and by a widow. And tell me, if we were to be strict about these things, what could be more unclean than our books, which are made from the skins of animals?

The sexually immoral man, then, is not the only one who is unclean; others are more so than he, such as the adulterer. But both the one and the other are unclean, not because of the intercourse — for by that reasoning a man living with his own wife would be unclean — but because of the wickedness of the act, and the injury done to his neighbor in what touches him most closely. Do you see that it is wickedness that is unclean? The man who had two wives was not unclean, and David, who had many wives, was not unclean. But when he took one unlawfully, he became unclean. Why? Because he had wronged and defrauded his neighbor.

And the sexually immoral man is not unclean because of the intercourse, but because of the manner of it: it wrongs the woman, and they wrong one another, making the woman common property and overturning the laws of nature. For she ought to be the wife of one man, since it is said, “Male and female he created them” (Genesis 1, verse 27), and, “The two will be one flesh” — not “those many,” but “the two will be one flesh.” Here, then, is injustice, and therefore the act is wicked.

Again, when anger goes beyond due measure, it makes a person unclean — not in itself, but because of its excess. For it does not say merely, “Whoever is angry,” but “angry without a cause.” So in every way, to desire too much is unclean, for it comes from a greedy and unreasoning disposition. Let us therefore be self-controlled, I beg you; let us be pure with the purity that is real, so that we may be counted worthy to see God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom to the Father be glory, with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.