Epistle to Titus

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Titus 1:11-15 on Papyrus 32 (recto; c. AD 200) Manchester, John Rylands University Library Ms Gr. P 5 (Papyrus 32) recto Titus 1, 11-15.jpg
Titus 1:11–15 on Papyrus 32 (recto; c. AD 200)

The Epistle to Titus [a] is one of the three pastoral epistles (along with 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy) in the New Testament, [4] It is addressed to Saint Titus [4] and describes the requirements and duties of presbyters/bishops. It is widely considered pseudepigraphical, likely written by a later member of the Pauline school in the late first or early second century rather than by Paul himself. [5] [6] [7]

Contents

Text

The epistle is divided into three chapters, 46 verses in total. [8]

Recipient

Not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Titus was noted in Galatians (cf. Galatians 2:1, 3) [9] where Paul wrote of journeying to Jerusalem with Barnabas, accompanied by Titus. He was then dispatched to Corinth, Greece, where he successfully reconciled the Christian community there with Paul, its founder. Titus was later left on the island of Crete to help organize the Church there, and later met back with the Apostle Paul in Nicopolis. He soon went to Dalmatia (now Croatia). According to Eusebius of Caesarea in the Ecclesiastical History, he served as the first bishop of Crete. [10]

Authenticity

The Epistle to Titus is generally considered “Trito-Pauline”, likely composed by members of the Pauline school a generation after Paul’s death. [11]

According to Clare Drury, the claim that Paul himself wrote this letter and those to Timothy "seems at first sight obvious and incontrovertible. All three begin with a greeting from the apostle and contain personal notes and asides", but in reality "things are not so straightforward: signs of the late date of the letters proliferate". [12]

Titus, along with the two other pastoral epistles (1 Timothy and 2 Timothy), is regarded by most scholars as pseudepigraphical. [7] On the basis of the language and content of the pastoral epistles, they reject that they were written by Paul and believe that they were written by an anonymous forger after his death. Critics claim the vocabulary and style of the Pauline letters could not have been written by Paul according to available biographical information and reflect the views of the emerging church rather than the apostle's. These scholars date the epistle from the 80s CE up to the end of the 2nd century, though most would place it sometime between 80 and 100 CE. [13] The Church of England's Common Worship Lectionary Scripture Commentary concurs with this view: "the proportioning of the theological and practical themes is one factor that leads us to think of these writings as coming from the post-Pauline church world of the late first or early second century". [6]

Titus has a very close affinity with 1 Timothy, sharing similar phrases and expressions and similar subject matter. [14] This has led many scholars to believe that it was written by the same author who wrote 1 and 2 Timothy: their author is sometimes referred to as "the Pastor". [15]

The Gnostic writer Basilides rejected the epistle. [16]

The first page of the epistle in Minuscule 699 gives its title as 'pros titon , 'To Titus.' Minuscule 699 GA folio 41v.jpg
The first page of the epistle in Minuscule 699 gives its title as 'προς τιτον, 'To Titus.'

Epimenides paradox

One of the secular peculiarities of the Epistle to Titus is the reference to the Epimenides paradox: "One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, 'Cretans are always liars'." [17]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The book is sometimes called the Letter of Paul to Titus, or simply Titus [2] (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). [3]

References

  1. ↑ Aland, Kurt; Aland, Barbara (1995). The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. p. 159. ISBN   978-0-8028-4098-1. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023.
  2. ↑ ESV Pew Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway. 2018. p. 998. ISBN   978-1-4335-6343-0. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Bible Book Abbreviations". Logos Bible Software. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Moffatt, James (1911). "Titus, The Epistle to"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 1031–1032.
  5. ↑ "Saint Paul the Apostle | Biography & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2025-08-11. Retrieved 2025-08-29.
  6. 1 2 Houlden and Rogerson (2001). Common Worship Lectionary: a Scriptures Commentary. London: SPCK. p. 18.
  7. 1 2 Ehrman, Bart (2011). Forged . HarperOne. pp.  93–105. ISBN   978-006-201262-3.
  8. ↑ Titus 1:1–16
  9. ↑ Galatians 2:1–3
  10. ↑ Eusebius, Church History III.4
  11. ↑ "Saint Paul the Apostle | Biography & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2025-08-11. Retrieved 2025-08-29.
  12. ↑ Drury, C., 73. The Pastoral Epistles, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine , p. 1220
  13. ↑ Raymond E. Brown. An Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Anchor Bible, p. 662, 668.
  14. ↑ Bart D. Ehrman. The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. pp. 385ff
  15. ↑ Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985, "The Pastoral Epistles", pp. 340–345
  16. ↑ Jerome. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II  . Translated by Philip Schaff – via Wikisource.
  17. ↑ Titus 1:12–13

Sources

Online translations of the Epistle to Titus:

Exegetical papers on Titus:

Epistle to Titus
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