Titus

Titus was an early Christian was a companion and disciple of Paul the Apostle, mentioned in several of the Pauline epistles including the Epistle to Titus likely written about the same time as the First Epistle to Timothy considering the similarities. Titus brought a letter from Paul to raise funds in Corinth, to supplement the daily ministration in Jerusalem. In Crete, Titus, as an elder of his own family, and servant to other ministers was appointed as a bishop and remained there into his old age, dying in Gortyna, near the city of Candia (modern Heraklion).

Titus was Greek who studied Greek philosophy and poetry in his early years. He seems to have been converted by Paul and aided him in service to the people. In the year 49, Titus accompanied Paul to the council held at Jerusalem and was a part of the controversy concerning circumcision being required for Gentile converts. In some manuscripts of Galatian Titus is circumcised.

Epistle to Titus describes the requirements and duties of ministers of the Church. These were not positions of authority but of service.

There is even some reason to believe and there are those who argue that Titus meaning "pleasing" is just another name for Timothy, concluding they are the same individual. It seems clear that there was a circumcising Timothy on Acts 16:3 but Titus may not have been forced to comply Galatians 2:3 although there are manuscripts of Galatians 2:4which indicate that Paul did circumcise Titus.

There is some doubt that The Epistle of Titus and other pastoral epistles are truly written by the Paul the Apostle, due to issues of style, circumstance, and references church offices like elders and bishops. There is no evidence in Paul's day that these terms meant an office like we think today. An elder or presbyter was not an office but a condition of a head of a family.

In any case, the letter was written to Titus, but it was also written to the Christians on the island of Crete.

When Paul used the term bondservant, he chose the ancient Greek word doulos. This word designated a low slave “the most abject, servile term in use among the Greeks for a slave”. It was also the word for a slave by choice. This fits directly into the teachings of Christ that the highest among you is to be a servant to all.

Titus
Titus 1 | Titus 2 | Titus 3 |

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