RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
Ah, we do love to quibble, don't we? (Just kidding, I enjoy the quibbles.)
So they're lazy and liars and evil, who isn't?
Thing is, he was quoting Epimenides - he was telling Titus that it was wise to watch his step because there was a great reputation there for shifty behaviour. He obviously thought they were worth the Gospel; he is not discounting them out of hand in the use of this phrase. Also, with regard to those true converts among them, do you think he would advise against marriage to any one of their people (not the principle of marriage, but specifically marriage to a Christian Cretan) based on race? If so, he is kicking the legs out from under the power of the Gospel and destroying its ability to make a new creation. Thus I have a hard time giving this phrase the relevance to the question at hand that you are.
I am not advising against marriage of another race (nor do I think St Paul is). My posts above should demonstrate that. But that doesn't preclude that St Paul made what modern folk would call an ethnic slur.