The point is not that Paul had a prejudice against Cretans. Rather, he wants Titus to be aware of the characteristic sins of his culture and to reprove most sharply these well-documented tendencies. Walter Liefeld notes that there are “particular belief systems that have generated different worldviews.” Instead of avoiding the sin of greed when preaching on Wall Street, or of hedonism in Hollywood, or of quiet self-centered materialism in suburban America, faithful preachers will apply their teaching most pointedly to correcting the prevalent sins directly before them.

问题不在于保罗对革哩底岛人有偏见。相反，他希望提多意识到他的文化的典型罪恶，并最严厉地谴责这些有据可查的倾向。沃尔特·利菲尔德指出，“特定的信仰体系产生了不同的世界观”。忠实的传教士不会在华尔街传教时避免犯贪婪的罪，也不会在好莱坞讲道时避免享乐主义，也不会在美国郊区避免安静的自我中心的唯物主义，而是会最有针对性地运用他们的教义来纠正他们面前盛行的罪。