Biblical Nations - Cretans

Cretans

Key Scripture: Titus 1:12

Figures: none

As we've been investigating some of the locations mentioned in the New Testament, we arrive this week at an island that is tied to two other nations that we've already investigated.  Today, Crete is the largest and most populated island of Greece, and in a previous study we looked at the possibility that the Philistines were a group that had their origins on the island.  But in the New Testament the apostle Paul found himself on the island, and while the circumstances seemed to be out of his control he still managed to fulfill his lifelong mission.  Let's dig in.

The island of Crete, or Caphtor as many early writings suggest it was initially called, has been visited by mankind for as long as they have been travelling the Mediterranean, several millennia before the writings of the New Testament.  Caphtor was descended from Ham's son, Mizraim, who was also the ancestor of the Egyptian people.  Permanent settlements on Crete date to the Neolithic (New Stone) Age, and before the Bronze Age had even begun there are indications that agriculture was flourishing.  The Minoan civilization, a modern name taken from the mythical King Minos who is said to have reigned from a palace in Knossos, appears to have formed from these early communities around 3100 BC, and for nearly 2,000 years they produced advanced archaeology and various art forms, not to mention the legend of the minotaur.  Proximity and regular trade brought the Mycenaean civilization to Crete from the Peloponnesian peninsula early in the 2nd millennium BC, and it had completely absorbed the Minoan culture by 1100 BC.  It did not survive long after, however, as Crete succumbed to the widespread societal collapse of the Late Bronze Age.

The rebuilt society that emerged suggests heavy Greek influence, and the island was divided into city states in similar fashion to the mainland.  After centuries of relative peace and stability provided by their legal system known as the Gortyn code, infighting among the high members of society led to feuds and factions.  External influence from Macedon, Egypt, and Rhodes eventually led to the Cretan War from 205-200 BC and resulted in victory by Philip V of Macedon.  Crete managed to repel attacks by the Romans until 69 BC, and it was under that empire's rule that it came into contact with Christianity.  First, a number of Jews from the island were present at Pentecost, and then they had an in-person visit from the apostle Paul, who had been arrested in Jerusalem and was being shipped to Rome for an audience with the emperor.  According to Acts 27, the apostle spent some time at the port known as Fair Havens - a city that 2,000 years later still bears the same name in Greek: Kaloi Limenes.  Luke, the author of the book of Acts, does not record much about the activities that took place while they were on Crete other than the centurion's refusal to take Paul's advice to remain in place until winter had passed.  By trying to reach a different port, the Roman commander caused the boat to get caught in a massive storm that drove them nearly 600 miles west to the island of Malta.  The ship was destroyed but all of the passengers miraculously survived and were eventually able to travel to Rome.

If that were the only Biblical record of Crete, we wouldn't know how much Paul had done during his brief stay.  But several years later he wrote a pastoral letter to Titus, stating that he had left his companion on Crete in order to organize the believers and assign local elders.  Paul had seemingly made the most of the opportunity he had, advancing the Gospel quickly in what he later described as an insubordinate population.  In one of Scripture's only references to secular writings, the writer quotes a philosopher from 700 years prior named Epimenides who claimed his fellow Cretans were lazy gluttons.  Paul's criticism, however, appears to be aimed primarily at the Jewish influences on the island who he says were spreading a distorted message that was opposed to sound doctrine.  Titus himself was an uncircumcised Gentile, according to Galatians 2, which like offended those committed to Mosaic law.  Biblical scholars generally agree that Titus and II Timothy were the final letters that Paul wrote, and judging by the detail in Titus 3 that the aging apostle appears to be free and intended to spend the winter in the Greek city of Nicopolis, possibly dates the writing to a period between two separate Roman imprisonments before his eventual execution at the hands of Nero. 

Over the following centuries, Crete had a complicated series of conquest and control.  When Rome was divided, the island became part of the Byzantine Empire.  Spaniards who had adopted Islam invaded Crete in the 9th century and instituted Arab rule for several decades before the Byzantines were able to retake control.  During the 13th century, the island was awarded as spoils of war to a Crusader named Boniface of Montferrat, who in turn sold his claim to the Republic of Venice.  After a brief dispute with Genoa, Venice successfully held the island for the following 400 years until the Ottoman Empire conquered Crete in 1669 - after a 21 year siege of Candia, which rates as one of the longest in history.  A turbulent 250 year period of protests, revolutions, and civil wars followed before Greek control over Crete was finally recognized in 1913.  Armed conflict continued after World War II, however, and the island did not finally see peace until 1974.  Today the Cretan population is completely assimilated into Greek culture.