Epistle to Titus

The Epistle to Titus is one of the important letters in the New Testament. It is often grouped with two other letters called the pastoral epistles: 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. People have traditionally believed that Paul the Apostle wrote this letter.

This letter is special because it was sent to a person named Saint Titus. In it, Paul talks about what kinds of people should be chosen as leaders in the church. He also explains the jobs and responsibilities of these leaders, who are sometimes called presbyters or bishops.

The ideas in this letter helped shape how many churches organize their leaders even today. It shows how early Christians thought about leadership and doing good work together.

Text

The letter is split into three chapters, with a total of 46 verses.

Recipient

Saint Titus is not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, but he is noted in Galatians. Paul wrote about traveling to Jerusalem with Barnabas and being accompanied by Titus. After that, Titus was sent to Corinth in Greece, where he helped bring the Christian community there back together with Paul, who started the church. Later, Titus was left on the island of Crete to help organize the church there. He eventually met up with Paul again in Nicopolis and then traveled to Dalmatia, which is now part of Croatia. According to Eusebius of Caesarea in the Ecclesiastical History, Titus was the first bishop of Crete.

Authenticity

Further information: First Epistle to Timothy § Authorship

Some people think the letter called the Epistle to Titus was written by Paul, the same as the letters to Timothy. They say this is clear because all three letters start with a greeting from Paul and have personal notes. But others think these letters were not actually written by Paul.

Some scholars believe Titus and the other letters to Timothy were not written by Paul. They think someone else wrote these letters after Paul died. They say the words and style of these letters do not match what we know about Paul's writing. These scholars think the letters were written later, in the time of the early church. They say the letters were written between the years 80 and 100 AD.

These letters share many phrases and topics with each other, which makes some scholars think the same person wrote all three letters. Even a writer named Basilides did not accept this letter.

Some newer ideas suggest that Paul may have had a helper write his letters, which was common at that time.

Epimenides paradox

One interesting part of the Epistle to Titus mentions the Epimenides paradox. It talks about a Cretan prophet who said, "Cretans are always liars." This shows a clever twist in thinking that people have talked about for a long time.

secular Epimenides paradox