The Cretans had a propensity as a people to lie, to prey on others, and to be lazy.  They would rather eat than work.  John Gill says, in his commentary on the book of Titus, written in the 18th century: “It was a sin they were addicted to; some countries are distinguished by their vices; some for pride; some for levity, vanity, and inconstancy; some for boasting and bragging; some for covetousness; some for idleness; some for effeminacy; some for hypocrisy and deceit; and others, as the Cretans, it seems for lying; this was their national sin.”

By today’s definition of racism, the Apostle Paul could easily be identified as a racist.  The words of Paul that could lend credence to his racism were penned by him in Titus 1:12. There he affirms the words of the Grecian poet (Epimenides) who said that the Cretans (who resided on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea), viewed as a people or nation, were “always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”  As Cretans were converted to Christ, Paul tells Titus that he should expect to see this indwelling sin in these people, and he will need to “reprove them severely” in aiding them in their sanctification because this was such a dominate trait in their particular ethnic group.

The Cretans had a propensity as a people to lie, to prey on others, and to be lazy.  They would rather eat than work.  John Gill says, in his commentary on the book of Titus, written in the 18^th century: “It was a sin they were addicted to; some countries are distinguished by their vices; some for pride; some for levity, vanity, and inconstancy; some for boasting and bragging; some for covetousness; some for idleness; some for effeminacy; some for hypocrisy and deceit; and others, as the Cretans, it seems for lying; this was their national sin.”

Making such a statement as Paul did in Titus would be considered in our modern culture as being insensitive to people “not like us.” To identify a body of people who are dominated by a particular sin surely seems sinful itself.  To most Christians and many clergymen in the modern church, it smacks of racism.

American clergymen are unable to think outside of the paradigm of individualism (American Baptist Culture), and thus are unable to recognize national traits (unless it is the guilt of being a white man).  Just listen to a typical sermon on Psalm 2, and watch how quickly it becomes a Psalm on individual piety.  In an attempt to balance the modern drift toward the formation of unbiblical concepts (even in evangelical circles), I think a good instructive method here is simply to ask a series of questions.

Question: What makes the races and nations physically different?
Answer:  Well, of course, ultimately, God does.  It is still a great mystery today why certain races have different physical characteristics.  Environment and genetic changes since the time of Noah may account for some of this.

Question: Are we not all part of the human race and therefore no distinctions should be made between various races or nations?
Answer: Indeed, we are all part of the human race, and we are all descendants from Adam.  We are all equally born in sin and all of us are guilty before the judgment throne of God.  There is no hope for any man except in Jesus Christ. However, nations or races can develop certain dominant and sinful traits which become easily identifiable with that particular nation.  This can be true of families, too. This is not a racist view of the human race. It is a biblical view.

Question: What then is racism?
Answer: All men are created in the image of God and to despise or hate a man simply because he is of a different race or nation is racism. To treat persons unfairly because of their race is sinful.  To distinguish various qualities (good and bad) among the various races or nations is not racism.

Question: What are some of the good distinguishable qualities of the various races?
Answer:  Germans have been known for their musical abilities (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, etc.).  The British seemed to have had dominance in literature (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens, etc.).  America has been known for technological innovation.

Question: What are some of the bad distinguishable qualities of various nations?
Answer: If you had lived through World War II, then at that time, the Germans would have been identified as arrogant and haughty.  Today, among American Blacks, 75% of the children are born outside of wedlock. American Whites are trailing but catching up. Whites in the United States, who control much of the wealth, are dominated by Darwinian anthropology and are thus existential materialists.

Question: What is the most prominent reason that the races or nationalities are different?
Answer:  The most prominent contributor to the difference between the races is religion, not color or physical characteristics.  For example, biblical Christianity (not the liberal type) makes a nation different.  Biblical Christianity makes a people oriented toward the nuclear family which consists of a father and mother, upholds contracts, protects life, holds high the work ethic, values education, and produces the worship of a Triune God.  White men from Christian Europe wrote the U. S. Constitution, something no other race or other ethnic people could have done at that time.

Question: Is it then racist to distinguish certain characteristics among races and nations?
Answer:  No, there are real differences between the nations, and acknowledging those differences can be profitable for all of us.  God created a world of diversity among the races and nations (and among individuals), and we should rejoice in that.  Sin created ethnic vices that capture people as a whole.  What captures the nations will capture most individuals in that nation. When false religions (which includes secular humanism) capture a nation or race, it spreads sinful traits that can be overcome only by the gospel.

Like the Apostle Paul, we should recognize that those traits do exist, and we should offer them the only hope possible, which is in Christ alone. There is nothing racist in doing that.

Larry E. Ball is a retired minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is now a CPA. He lives in Kingsport, Tennessee.