Editing Epistle to Titus

{{Short description|Book of the New Testament}}
[[File:P032-Tit-1 11-15-II.jpg|thumb|Titus 1:11–15 on [[Papyrus 32]] (''recto''; {{Circa|AD 200}})<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aland |first=Kurt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pYDsAhUOxAC |title=The Text of the New Testament: An Introduction to the Critical Editions and to the Theory and Practice of Modern Textual Criticism |last2=Aland |first2=Barbara |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-8028-4098-1 |edition=2nd |location=Grand Rapids, MI |pages=159 |language=en |translator-last=Rhodes |translator-first=Erroll F. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005232815/https://books.google.com/books?id=2pYDsAhUOxAC |archive-date=October 5, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
{{Books of the New Testament}}
{{Paul}}

The '''Epistle to Titus'''{{Efn|The book is sometimes called the '''Letter of Paul to Titus''', or simply '''Titus'''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HiPouAEACAAJ |title=ESV Pew Bible |publisher=Crossway |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4335-6343-0 |location=Wheaton, IL |pages=998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603093159/https://www.google.com/books/edition/ESV_Pew_Bible_Black/HiPouAEACAAJ |archive-date=June 3, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> (which is also its most common form of abbreviation).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Book Abbreviations |url=https://www.logos.com/bible-book-abbreviations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220421100743/https://www.logos.com/bible-book-abbreviations |archive-date=April 21, 2022 |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=Logos Bible Software}}</ref>}} is one of the three [[pastoral epistles]] (along with [[First Epistle to Timothy|1 Timothy]] and [[Second Epistle to Timothy|2 Timothy]]) in the [[New Testament]], historically attributed to [[Paul the Apostle]].<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Titus, The Epistle to |volume=26 |pages=1031–1032 |first=James |last=Moffatt |author-link=James Moffatt}}</ref> It is addressed to [[Saint Titus]]<ref name=EB1911/> and describes the requirements and duties of [[presbyter]]s/[[bishop]]s.<ref name ="Harris">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref>

==Text==
The epistle is divided into three [[chapters and verses of the Bible|chapters]], 46 verses in total.<ref>{{bibleverse||Titus|1:1-16|NKJV}}</ref>

==Recipient==
Not mentioned in the [[Acts of the Apostles]], [[Saint Titus]] was noted in [[Epistle to the Galatians|Galatians]] (cf. Galatians 2:1, 3)<ref>{{bibleverse|Galatians|2:1–3}}</ref> 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 (Roman province)|Dalmatia]] (now Croatia). According to [[Eusebius]] of [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]] in the [[Church History (Eusebius)|''Ecclesiastical History'']], he served as the first bishop of Crete.<ref>[[Eusebius]], ''[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm Church History]'' III.4</ref> He was buried in Cortyna ([[Gortyn|Gortyna]]), Crete; his head was later removed to Venice, Italy during the invasion of Crete by the [[Saracens]] in 832 and was enshrined in [[St Mark's Basilica]], Venice, Italy.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}

==Purpose==
The Epistle to Titus emphasizes the close connection between sound doctrine and good works throughout its three chapters. Paul instructs Titus to teach what accords with sound doctrine ({{bibleverse||Titus|2:1|NKJV}}) and to be a model of good works in both conduct and teaching ({{bibleverse||Titus|2:7|NKJV}}). This pairing recurs as believers are urged to adorn the doctrine of God with their lives ({{bibleverse||Titus|2:10|NKJV}}) and to be zealous for [[good works]] ({{bibleverse||Titus|2:14|NKJV}}). Although salvation is not bestowed "because of works" ({{bibleverse||Titus|3:5|NKJV}}), believers are to devote themselves to good works as the fruit of sound doctrine ({{bibleverse||Titus|3:8|NKJV}}). 

Several theologians have noted this emphasis: [[Gordon Fee]] describes Titus as showing the "inseparability of belief and behavior";<ref>Gordon D. Fee, ''Pauline Christology'' (Hendrickson, 2007), p. 387</ref> [[Philip Towner]] highlights that "right teaching produces right living";<ref>Philip H. Towner, ''The Letters to Timothy and Titus'', NICNT (Eerdmans, 2006), p. 699</ref> and Robert Yarbrough underscores that sound doctrine and good works, together, serve as a form of public witness and mission.<ref>Robert W. Yarbrough, ''The Letters to Timothy and Titus'', Pillar New Testament Commentary (Eerdmans, 2018), p. 489</ref>

==Authenticity==
{{further|First Epistle to Timothy#Authorship}}
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".<ref>Drury, C., ''73. The Pastoral Epistles'', in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 The Oxford Bible Commentary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122193211/http://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 |date=2017-11-22 }}, p. 1220</ref> There has therefore been some debate regarding the authenticity of the letter.

===Opposition to Pauline authenticity===
Titus, along with the two other [[pastoral epistles]] ([[First Epistle to Timothy|1 Timothy]] and [[Second Epistle to Timothy|2 Timothy]]), is regarded by some scholars as being [[Pseudepigraphy|pseudepigraphical]].<ref name="forged">{{cite book|last=Ehrman|first=Bart|title=Forged|url=https://archive.org/details/forgedwritinginn00ehrm|url-access=registration|date=2011|publisher=HarperOne|isbn=978-006-201262-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/forgedwritinginn00ehrm/page/93 93–105]}}</ref> On the basis of the language and content of the pastoral epistles, these scholars 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.<ref>[[Raymond E. Brown]]. ''An Introduction to the New Testament''. New York: Anchor Bible, p. 662, 668.</ref> The [[Church of England]]'s [[Common Worship|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".<ref>{{cite book|last=Houlden and Rogerson|title=Common Worship Lectionary: a Scriptures Commentary|year=2001|publisher=SPCK|location=London|page=18}}</ref>

Titus has a very close affinity with [[First Epistle to Timothy|1 Timothy]], sharing similar phrases and expressions and similar subject matter.<ref>[[William Paley]] ''Horae Paulinae'' (1785)</ref><ref>[[Bart D. Ehrman]]. ''The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings'' 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. pp. 385ff</ref> 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".<ref name =HarrisPastoral>[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985, "The Pastoral Epistles", pp.&nbsp;340–345</ref>

The [[Gnosticism|gnostic]] writer [[Basilides]] rejected the epistle.<ref> {{cite wikisource|title=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II|author=Jerome|wslink=Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume VI/Prefaces/Prefaces to Commentaries/Titus|translator=Philip Schaff}} </ref>

===Traditional view: Pauline authenticity===
Other scholars who do believe that Paul wrote Titus date its composition from the circumstance that it was written after Paul's visit to [[Crete]] (Titus 1:5).<ref>{{bibleverse|Titus|1:5}}</ref> This visit could not be the one referred to in the [[Acts of the Apostles]] 27:7,<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|27:7}}</ref> when Paul was on his voyage to Rome as a prisoner, and where he continued a prisoner for two years. Thus traditional [[exegesis]] supposes that after his release Paul sailed from Rome into Asia, passing Crete by the way, and that there he left [[Titus]] "to set in order the things that were wanting". Thence he would have gone to [[Ephesus]], where he left Timothy, and from Ephesus to [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]], where he wrote the First Epistle to Timothy, and thence, according to the subscription of this epistle, to "Nicopolis of Macedonia",{{efn|"It was written to Titus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Cretians, from Nicopolis of Macedonia."—[[Authorized Version]] subscription after Titus 3:15
* Note: Sources{{which|date=January 2023}} that say [[Nicopolis]] was in [[Epirus]] are technically correct, but Epirus had become part of [[Macedonia (Roman province)]] in 146 BCE. In 110 CE under Trajan it became a province in its own right, separate from Macedonia and Achaia. The expression "Nicopolis of Macedonia" in Paul's timeframe is valid.}} from which place he wrote to Titus, about 66 or 67.

[[File:Minuscule 699 GA folio 41v.jpg|thumb|The first page of the epistle in [[Minuscule 699]] gives its title as {{lang|grc|'προς τιτον}}, 'To Titus.']]

Recent scholarship has revived the theory that Paul used an [[amanuensis]], or secretaries, in writing his letters (e.g. Romans 16:22),<ref>{{bibleverse|Romans|16:22}}</ref> but possibly Luke for the pastorals.<ref>George W. Knight, The Pastoral Epistles: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 1992), 48.</ref><ref>William D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, vol. 46, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2000), cxxix.</ref> This was a common practice in ancient letter writing, even for the biblical writers.<ref>Richards, E. Randolph. Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and Collection. Downers Grove, IL; Leicester, England: InterVarsity Press; Apollos, 2004.</ref><ref>Harry Y. Gamble, "Amanuensis", ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 172.</ref>

==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'."<ref>{{Bibleverse|Titus|1:12–13|ESV}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Authorship of the Pauline epistles]]
* [[Faithful saying]]
* [[Textual variants in the Epistle to Titus]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{EBD|wstitle=Titus, Epistle to}}

==External links==
Online translations of the Epistle to Titus:
* [http://www.gospelhall.org/bible/bible.php?passage=Titus ''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org]
* [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/titus.html Early Christian Writings:] ''Titus''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111018145609/http://bible.daresler.net/Titus-1/ Titus – King James Version]
* {{librivox book | dtitle=Bible: Titus| stitle=NT 17: Titus}} Various versions	

Exegetical papers on Titus:
* [http://www.wlsessays.net/handle/123456789/3347 An Exegesis of Titus Chapter Two by David Moore]
* [http://www.wlsessays.net/handle/123456789/3779 Chapter Three Exegesis by Snowden G. Sims]

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{{s-ttl|title=<small>[[New Testament]]</small><br>[[Books of the Bible]]}}
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{{Epistle to Titus}}
{{Books of the Bible}}

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[[Category:Epistle to Titus| ]]
[[Category:New Testament books|Titus]]
[[Category:Canonical epistles|Titus]]
[[Category:Pastoral epistles|Titus]]
[[Category:Christianity in Roman Crete]]
[[Category:Saint Titus]]