Titus: epistle of religious revitalization

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Winter, 2000 by Kenneth D. Tollefson

The second term, peace, shalom, a favorite Hebrew expression used in greetings and farewells, referred to health, soundness, prosperity, and welfare. Judeans applied this term externally to nations who experienced the absence of warfare and internally to individuals as a gift that God gave to those who placed their trust in him (Isa 26:3). The Second Testament Judean writers used the Greek term eirene for shalom, possessing much the same meaning and usage to apply to the gospel. Walker (2293) describes the peace that Christ brings to the believing community as the "spiritual peace from and with God, peace in the heart, peace as the disposition of spirit." The use of peace was extensively used in preaching the gospel, in the life of the Christian community, and in admonishing believers to seek peace with God to become peacemakers in society (Rom 12:18; Matt 5:9).

While no definitive data are given describing the origin of the church on the Island of Crete, there are at least four plausible scenarios. One possible explanation might be that some Cretan responded to Jewish immigrants, since Moses was "preached in every city from earliest time and is read in the synagoges on every Sabbath" (Acts 15:21). Roman records refer to a Jewish community on the Island of Crete by the first century BCE in an appeal by the government for fair treatment for Jewish minorities (1 Macc 15:23). The biblical account also states that devout Judeans from Crete were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, heard the witness of the apostles, and may have carried the message back to the Judean community on the Island of Crete (Acts 2:11).

A second scenario suggests that Paul may have sent an associate or delegate to Crete to establish the early church, much as he had sent them to Epaphras and later to Tychicus in the church at Colossae (Col 1:7; 4:12). Such letters of delegation were common in the Roman Empire at this period of history (Johnson: 106-07). A third possibility might be that Paul "carried out an extensive missionary tour of Crete" (Kelly: 35) after his first imprisonment, when he may have drafted the letter to Titus revealing his plans to spend the winter at Nicopolis (3:12). And a fourth scenario suggests that Paul made a "post-Acts 28" ministry to Crete as "the only convincing historical occasion for his authoring" of Titus and thus "enables the historian to best explain the internal pecularities" such as the "different terminology, variation of scene and theme and their evidence for a different and more influential amanuensis" (Ellis: 252).

Organization Phase: Titus 1:5-9

Following an effective communication of the revitalization vision, followers are organized into action groups to implement it. To do this, the catalyst must recruit capable leaders who are committed to the movement, willing to defend it against opposition, qualified to teach its creed, and demonstrating leadership skills. Elders appeared in the early church community without any explanation (Acts 11:30), probably because they were "the common officer of guidance and leadership" in the local synagogues and so their type of leadership naturally extended to the early churches in Acts (Glasscock: 71). Consequently, little was said about qualifications for elders until Paul began organizing Gentile churches with the help of Timothy and Titus. In doing this, Paul seemed to borrow some Judean qualifications, combining them with qualifications from traditional Greek "overseers," forming new criteria for the selection of Gentile leaders.