Titus
Introduction
The
third of the Pastoral Epistles in the New Testament is addressed to a different
co-worker of Paul than are First and Second Timothy. The situation is different,
too, for Titus is addressed as the person in charge of developing the church on
the large Mediterranean island of Crete (Titus 1:5), a
place Paul had never, according to the New Testament, visited. The tone is
closer to that of First Timothy as three topics of church life and structure
are discussed: presbyter-bishops (see the note on Titus 1:5-9),
groups with which one must work in the church (Titus 2:1-10),
and admonitions for conduct based on the grace and love of God that appeared in
Jesus Christ (Titus
2:11-3:10).
The warmer personal tone of Second Timothy is replaced by emphasis on church
office and on living in the society of the day, in which deceivers and heretics
abound (Titus
1:10-16; 3:9-10).
The Pauline assistant who is
addressed, Titus, was a Gentile Christian, but we are nowhere informed of his
place of birth or residence. He went from Antioch with Paul and Barnabas to
Jerusalem (Gal
2:1; cf Acts
15:2). According to 2 Corinthians (2 Cor
2:13; 7:6,
13-14),
he was with Paul on his third missionary journey; his name, however, does not
appear in Acts. Besides being the bearer of Paul's severe letter to the
Corinthians (2 Cor
7:6-8), he had the responsibility of taking up the collection in Corinth
for the Christian community of Jerusalem (2 Cor
8:6, 16-19,
23).
In the present letter (Titus 1:5), he is
mentioned as the administrator of the Christian community in Crete, charged
with the task of organizing it through the appointment of presbyters and
bishops (Titus
1:5-9; here the two terms refer to the same personages).
The letter instructs Titus
about the character of the assistants he is to choose in view of the pastoral
difficulties peculiar to Crete (Titus 1:5-16). It
suggests the special individual and social virtues that the various age groups
and classes in the Christian community should be encouraged to acquire (Titus 2:1-10).
The motivation for transformation of their lives comes from christology,
especially the redemptive sacrifice of Christ and his future coming, as applied
through baptism and justification (Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-8). The
community is to serve as a leaven for Christianizing the social world about it
(Titus 3:1-3).
Good works are to be the evidence of their faith in God (Titus 3:8); those
who engage in religious controversy are, after suitable warning, to be ignored
(Titus 3:9-11).
The authorship and date of
the Letter to Titus are discussed in the Introduction to 1 Timothy. Those who
assume authorship by Paul himself usually place Titus after 1 Timothy and
before 2 Timothy. Others see it as closely related to 1 Timothy, in a growing
emphasis on church structure and opposition to heresy, later than the letters
of Paul himself and 2 Timothy. It has also been suggested that, if the three
Pastorals once circulated as a literary unit, Titus was meant to be read ahead
of 1 and 2 Timothy.
The principal divisions of
the Letter to Titus are the following:
I.
Address
(Titus 1:1-4)
II.
Pastoral
Charge (Titus
1:5-16)
III.
Teaching
the Christian Life (Titus
2:1-3:15)
Table of Contents 
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Titus Introduction
Ends.
Easter
Sunday 12 April 2009.