The poet cited appears to be Epimenides of Crete. It is alleged that the verse poses a liar’s dilemma. That is, if a Cretan makes the statement that Cretans always lie, then is he telling the truth when he says that Cretans always lie? Then, it is said that because Paul cites Epimenides, it has become his dilemma, and thus also a dilemma for those who affirm the inerrancy of Scripture.

However, there is no dilemma in the statement. Just because a group of people are all liars, or because they always lie, does not necessarily mean that every proposition that proceeds from them must be false. Many lies require some true statements to provide the context for deception. I may say to a non-Christian, “Strawberries are delicious. If you eat enough of them, it will make you less stupid.” Taken as a whole, that is a lie, but there is truth in there to give it a context, or to make it more interesting. Strawberries may indeed be delicious, at least to me, but nothing except omnipotence can make a non-Christian less stupid.

Some people are so focused on the non-existent dilemma that they fail to read the rest of the verse. Cretans are said to be not only liars, but gluttons. They serve their own bellies. If they are all gluttons, or always gluttons, then does this mean that they eat continuously and never go to sleep? In any case, if they are always eating, then it is at least possible that they would tell the truth about what they want to eat when they order their food. And perhaps they may even stop talking – and telling lies – while they chew.

The truth is that there is no dilemma here, and no difficulty arises from Paul’s usage of the poet. Rather, the inordinate interest in forcing a dilemma illustrates the silly and desperate nature of non-Christian criticisms of the biblical religion. If anything, it is another indication that unbelievers are always stupid, evil brutes, lazy thinkers. And this testimony is true.

The non-Christian’s dilemma is that he is too unintelligent to refute the wisdom of Christ, but to become intelligent, he must first accept the wisdom of Christ, the very wisdom that he wishes to become intelligent enough to refute. He must choose: either remain stupid, or abandon this futile project and embrace the gospel. But this introduces another dilemma: the non-Christian is too stupid to choose to become not stupid. He is stuck on stupid. Who will rescue him? The only way out is for God to act, to convert his thinking, to inject wisdom into his stupid mind, and to add humility to his wicked soul.