SOLUTIONS TO WORLD'S HARDEST PUZZLE # 2

Puzzle #2:  Should the Bible be interpreted literally? In Titus 1:12 Paul writes, "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies." In Titus 1:13 Paul claims, "This witness is true …." Is Paul right when he reports that the Cretan prophet's witness is true? What are the implications of these passages, if any, for those who claim that the Bible must be interpreted literally?

OK, I get it. Paul claims that the Cretan prophet's statement ("The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies") is true. But since, according to Paul, the prophet is himself a Cretan, everything the prophet says must be false (because Cretans are always liars). So Paul's claim (i.e., that the Cretan prophet's witness is true) can't be true. But if Paul's claim is false, then the Bible contains a falsehood, which is equally unacceptable to those who interpret the Bible literally. Is this God's little joke on the fundamentalists?

—Richard Zeints; Oakland, California

I always wondered where this "All Cretans are liars" thing came from. I thought it was "All cretins are lawyers."

—Sarah Hershey; Takoma, Washington

This one's a million years old. No problem for the literal interpreters though. The prophet that Paul mentions can be "one of themselves, even a prophet of their own" and not be a Cretan. Or the prophet can be exaggerating when he says that the Cretans are always liars. Paul can simply be endorsing the claim that Cretans are notorious for being liars. Come to think of it, that's a pretty weird thing for Paul to endorse.

—Mike Boole; Aurora, Illinois

Bible schmible.

—Name withheld by request; New York, New York