The Epistle to Titus is one of the Pastoral Epistles, a name first used of the letters to Timothy and Titus by D. N. Berdot in 1703 and later popularized by Paul Anton of Halle in 1726. The appropriateness of the name has been debated by New Testament scholars, but its essential usefulness to denote the contents of these Epistles is evident.
AUTHORSHIP
Titus shares in the major problem common to the Pastorals, namely, authenticity. Until the time of Schleiermacher (1807) the Pauline authorship of these letters was universally recognized by the Church. True, Marcion rejected them, but that was to be expected because of his dogmatic presuppositions. The Chester Beatty papyrus (p. 46, third century) does not contain them, but since both the beginning and ending of this codex are not extant, no certain conclusions can be drawn from their exclusion.
Since Schleiermacher’s day the rejection of the Pauline authorship has been along the following lines: (1) doctrinal: the theology of the Pastorals is post-Pauline; (2) historical: the events of the Pastorals cannot be fitted into the life of Paul; (3) ecclesiastical: the church organization revealed in these letters is too advanced for Paul’s time; (4) linguistic: the vocabulary and style of the Pastorals are not Paul’s. It is not within the scope of this article to discuss all of these objections (the interested reader should consult the commentaries of Simpson and Guthrie). Since, however, the linguistic argument is the weightiest, a word about it is in order. It was Schleiermacher who first openly denied the authenticity of the Pastorals on linguistic bases. He was followed by other scholars, the most influential of whom was P. N. Harrison. His now famous, The Problem of the Pastorals (1921), persuaded many New Testament scholars who had previously refused to go along with Schleiermacher.
Harrison’s basic contention was that the vocabulary and style of these epistles are more like the writings of the late first and early second century Apostolic Fathers and Apologists than Paul’s authentic letters. Harrison could not, however, deny the true Pauline ring of some of the passages in the Pastorals (e.g., 2 Tim. 4 and references to certain personages) and thus concluded that the Pastorals were written by a second century Paulinist who had in his possession certain fragments of letters written by Paul to Timothy and Titus.
Harrison’s theory has come under rigorous examination and, although it has enjoyed wide acceptance, has been rejected by scholars of as widely differing backgrounds as Guthrie, Jeremias, Behm, and de Zwaan. His rather arbitrary statistical methods in particular have drawn fire from his critics. Indeed, there is serious question whether any valid results can be achieved from statistical vocabulary studies involving documents as brief as the Pastorals. Metzger (Expository Times, LXX, p. 94) calls attention to the statistical studies of G. U. Yule who contends that a treatise must be at least ten thousand words long to form a solid basis for statistical analysis. The Pastorals, of course, contain far less words than that. The case against the authenticity of the Pastorals is a long way from being closed.
TITUS
No mention is made of Titus in Acts (was he Luke’s brother?), but a few scattered references to him occur in the Epistles of Paul, especially II Corinthians. Titus was a Gentile (Gal. 2:3) and probably a spiritual son of Paul (Titus 1:4). He was in the company of Barnabas and Paul when they made their “famine visit” to Jerusalem (Gal. 2:3). The next explicit reference to him is during Paul’s three-year stay at Ephesus. He may have been the bearer of I Corinthians, and, even more likely, of Paul’s “severe letter” to that church. It is clear that Paul had sent Titus to Corinth about matters which were of deep concern to him and had arranged to meet him at Troas (2 Cor. 2:13). When Titus did not appear, Paul traveled on into Macedonia. It was there that he met Titus and with great relief heard the good news that the worst of the trouble was over at Corinth (2 Cor. 7:6, 13, 14). Titus, accompanied by two other brethren, was the bearer of II Corinthians (2 Cor. 8:23) and was given the responsibility of making arrangements for the collection in Corinth (2 Cor. 8:6, 16, 17). Nothing more is heard of Titus until the interval between Paul’s Roman imprisonments. From Crete, where he was engaged in the organization of the churches, he was summoned to Nicopolis (Titus 3:12). From Nicopolis he probably went to Dalmatia (2 Tim. 4:10).
HISTORICAL SITUATION
Paul had been on the Island of Crete and had left Titus behind to “amend what was defective” (1:5) and to complete the organization of the churches. At the time of writing he is apparently on his travels. With him are Artemas, Tychicus, Zenas, and Apollos. The former two are being sent by Paul to Crete to relieve Titus of his work there, while the latter two—the probable bearers of the letter—are commencing a journey which would bring them past Crete. The purpose of the letter is to give Titus instructions in his ministerial work and to prepare him to join Paul at Nicopolis.
Manifestly it is impossible to fit Paul’s historical situation as revealed here into the history recorded in Acts. The only adequate solution is to posit two imprisonments with a period of freedom in between.
The probable date is circa A.D. 63. There is no indication of the place from which the letter was written. Macedonia is suggested by some. This would be consistent with Paul’s plan to winter at Nicopolis. Others suggest Corinth. Apollos—if this is the same person as the one mentioned in Titus—had been in Corinth (Acts 19:1) and was originally from Alexandria (Acts 18:24). Crete lies in a direct line between Corinth and Alexandria.
OUTLINE
I. Salutation 1:1–4.
II. The Appointment of Elders and Their Qualifications 1:5–10.
III. False Teachers 1:11–16.
IV. Christian Living 2:1–10.
A. Older People 2:1–3.
B. Younger People 2:4–8.
C. Slaves 2:9, 10.
V. The Theological Grounds for Christian Living 2:11–15.
VI. The Christian and Those Outside 3:1–7.
VII. Closing Injunctions 3:8–11.
VIII. Personal Requests 3:12–15.
CONTENTS
The Epistles to Titus reveals the following emphases:
1. High standards for church leaders. Paul had not stayed long enough on the Island of Crete to complete the organization of the churches. This responsibility thus fell into Titus’ hands. He is instructed to appoint in every town, elders (a term synonymous with “bishops,” compare 1:5 with 1:7) who must meet certain spiritual standards (1:6–8). This was all the more important because Cretans had notorious reputations (1:12). The list of qualifications parallels the one found in 1 Timothy 3:1–7, with a few divergences. The standards are high, as the words “blameless,” “upright,” “holy,” and “self-controlled” indicate.
Paul singles out Titus himself in 2:7 and reminds him that he too must show himself in all respects “a model of good deeds.” With church leadership goes exemplary conduct.
In addition to good moral character, elders are to have a good grasp of Christian doctrine, both for the purpose of instructing believers and of confuting false teachers (1:10). Paul insists that the leadership of the church must be both spiritually and theologicaly sound.
2. Sound doctrine. The importance of sound doctrine arises out of the presence of false teachers in the churches of Crete. That the influence of these was widespread is indicated by Paul’s statement in 1:11: “they are upsetting whole families.”
Whatever precisely its nature, the false teaching against which Paul addresses himself had a strong Jewish element in it. He speaks of the “circumcision party” (1:10), “Jewish myths” (1:14), and “quarrels over the law” (3:9). The false teachers are described as “insubordinate men, empty talkers, and deceivers” (1:10) who are teaching for “base gain what they have no right to teach” (1:11). The seriousness of the situation is underscored by Paul’s quotation of Epimenides’ evaluation of Cretan character: “liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons” (1:12)—an evaluation confirmed by the Greek verb cretizein which means “to lie.” Paul himself, apparently by personal experience, also confirms Epimenides’ judgment of Cretans (1:13).
Vigorous action is suggested against these false teachers. They must be silenced (1:11): Paul does not specify how, but presumably by the teaching of sound doctrine (1:9). They are to be rebuked (1:13), and if one of their number does not respond after being admonished once or twice, Titus is to have “nothing more to do with him” (3:10).
The Epistle to Titus reveals with what great concern Paul viewed false teaching in the church and how anxious he was for sound doctrine. The modern church would do well to emulate Paul in these matters. A. M. Hunter writes: “It is easy to make jokes about ‘sound doctrine’ and to poke fun at the ultra-orthodox. But in a world like ours where so many non-Christian philosophies compete for men’s allegiance and so many attempts are made to undermine the Faith, who can deny the need for ‘sound doctrine’?” (Introducing the New Testament, p. 155).
3. Practical Christian living. In contrast to the disobedient and detestable lives of the false teachers, Christians are exhorted to practice good deeds. Paul’s exhortations are addressed to various groups in the churches. Older men are to reveal special qualities of Christian living consistent with age and experience (2:2). Older women are to assume the responsibilities that attend their new position in the Gospel. These include the proper instruction of the younger women who might be tempted to take advantage of their new-found freedom and bring discredit to the Faith (2:3–5). To younger men Paul has but one exhortation: “control yourselves” (2:6). Slaves are to accept their lot, work hard, be honest and loyal. By so doing they adorn (kosmein—a word used of the setting of a jewel) the doctrine of God (2:9, 10). Exemplary living, even on the part of a slave, enhances the Gospel.
Paul’s instructions to Christians in their relationship to those outside is given in 3:1, 2. The teaching is similar to that found in Romans 13, namely, the Christian is to submit to and obey the authorities in a spirit of gentleness and courtesy.
Paul’s attitude in the whole area of Christian living is summarized in 3:8: “I desire you to insist on these things, so that they who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds.”
Ethics, however, must have a theological basis. There is a close and inseparable relationship between right living and right believing, between ethics and theology. This Paul stresses in a classic passage on the grace of God (2:11–14). God’s grace which brings salvation is the pre-requisite to godly living. It teaches the Christian discipleship and affords him the “blessed hope” (assurance, not mere wish) of the coming of Jesus Christ. It was the purpose of Christ’s redemptive work to create a people cleansed of sin and zealous for good works.
LITERATURE
The best most recent commentaries on Titus (these treat of the other two Pastorals also) are by E. K. Simpson (1954) and D. Guthrie (1957). The former is based on the Greek text and brings to bear much classical learning to the exegesis of the text. The latter is one of the almost uniformly excellent commentaries in the Tyndale Series and is particularly valuable for its discussion of Harrison’s views. Of the older commentaries Fairbairn (1874), a little known work, Plummer in the Expositor’s Bible (1888), Bernard in the Cambridge Greek Testament (1899), Parry (1920), and Lock in the International Critical Commentary (1924) are all valuable. Harrison, The Problem of the Pastorals (1921), Scott in the Moffatt New Testament Commentary (1936), and Gealy in The Interpreter’s Bible (1955) all deny the Pauline authorship. Recently two significant articles on the bearing of the linguistic phenomena of the Pastorals to the problem of authorship have appeared: Bruce Metzger’s “A Reconsideration of Certain Arguments Against the Pauline Authorship of the Pastoral Epistles,” Expository Times, LXX (Dec. 1958), pp. 91–94, and K. Grayston’s and G. Herdan’s “The Authorship of the Pastorals in the Light of Statistical Linguistics,” New Testament Studies, VI (Oct. 1959), pp. 1–15.
WALTER W. WESSEL
Professor of New Testament
North American Baptist Seminary
