A Text centred rhetorical analysis of Paul's Letter to Titus

Firstly, there is a play on the antonyms noticeable in the expressions, Krh`te"
ajei; yeu`stai and oJ ajyeudh;" qeov" (1:2). This is an instance of implicit
contrasting where the character of the Cretans is juxtaposed with that of God.
It furthermore establishes an argument based on example, and in this
occurrence it is an irrefutable one, since the character of the opposition is
presented as being diametrically opposed to the character of the divine. The
next two descriptions, namely kaka; qhriva and gastevre" ajrgaiv, have the effect
of portraying the opposition as dehumanised by refering to them as beasts
(qhriva) and lazy gluttons, or literally “idle stomachs”. The rhetorical effect of
this quotation is that it belittles the opposition in the eyes of the church. On its
own, such vilification is rather damaging to any person’s reputation. In the
context of a local congregation, the relational consequences would be
devastating.
In verse 13, the rhetorical strategy involves an apostolic verification of the
saying regarding the Cretans’ moral disposition. The use of the demonstrative
pronoun au{th links this sentence to the citation. Here, Paul had opportunity to
limit the applicability of the earlier quotation; instead he affirms the veracity of
the Cretan poet’s adage. There is a sense of irony associated with the
combination of the quote and the apostolic affirmation: A Cretan poet brands
Cretans as pathological liars, lazy bones and gluttons. Scholars refer to this
as the liar’s paradox (Mounce, 2000:398), since it makes the statement a
logical impossibility. The apostolic verification serves to corroborate the truth
of the statement. Furthermore, we have repetition of the same word in the
adjective ajlhqhv". The corresponding noun ajlhqeiva was introduced in the
salutation. Opponents would be hard pressed to refute the characterisation,
which is here intensified by the apostolic corroboration. A comparative view of
the various units in chapter 1, discloses the development of a deliberate
tension between truth and lies or liars: Paul’s ministry is focused on the
knowledge of ajlhqeiva (1:1). God is ajyeudhv" (1:2). Next, the Cretans are
yeu`stai (1:12), while the statement is ajlhqhv" (1:13). Structurally, one could
almost argue for an ABBA structure, but that is not the concern of this study.
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