Titus (Hastings' Dictionary)

A companion of St. Paul, who is always mentioned by him with great affection and confidence, yet whose name appears but on rare occasions in the Epistles and never in the Acts. On account of tfiis silence of the Acts it has been conjectured that Titus is the second name of some one of St.

Paul's companions who are mentioned there, and attempts huve been made to identify him with Timothy, with Silas, and with Titus (or Titius) Justus (Ac 18') ; but none of these conjectures has met with acceptance (cf. Zahn, Ein- leitung, i. pp. 149, 190; KoltzmSiUB, Pasioralbricfe, p. 81). The name is Latin, but, as ■with Paul, this proves little : his birthplace is unknown ; later legends place it in Crete; St. Chrysostom in Corinth; and the Acts of Thecla (c.

2) speak of him as living with Onesiphorus at leonium at the time of St. Paul's first visit there. All that can be said for certain is that he was a Gentile (Gal 2'), probably converted by St. Paul himself (yvqalui TiKvi^i, Tit I''), and living at Antioch fourteen years after St. Paul's conversion, when the dispute arose about the circumcision of the Gentiles. At this time Paul took him with him to Jerusalem : there an attempt was made to compel him to be circum- cised ; St.

Paul resisted the compulsion, and prob- ably Titus was never circumcised, though the ambiguity of St. Pauls words leaves it just possible that he was circumcised as a voluntary concession on St. Paul's part (cf. Lightfoot on Gal 2'"* ; Hort, Judaislic Christianity, pp. 76-83). Titus remained St. Paul's companion, being per- haps with him when he wrote Galatians [may 6 aim iliol (2^) mean ' who is with me still ' ? cf.

oi cruv ifwt of 1*], but not mentioned again until the time of the incidents which caused the writing of 1 and 2 Corinthians. At this time he paid two, if not three, visits to Corinth. — (a) In the year before the writing of 2 Cor. (oxA iripvin, 8'") he went at Paul's request (2 Co 12") with one other brother to Corinth, perliaps carrying 1 Cor.

with him, perhaps also authorized to explain the method of the collection for the saints alluded to in 1 Co 16'- ' : at any rate he did organize it, and that on a religious basis (jrpoenjpJaTo, 2 Co 8"), and returned to St. Paul with news of the zeal sliown in the matter at Corinth. — (6) Probably after he had left Corinth there arose some serious opposi- tion to St. Paul there ; perliaps Timothy was in- sulted and set at nought [cf.

2 Corinthians and Paul], and Titus, who was already known there, was despatched from Ei)hesus to deal with the crisis, carrying the letter referred to in 2 Co 2 and 7. St.

Paul had often boasted to Titus of the loyalty of his Corinthian converts (2 Co 7") ; but he was afraid now lest his boast would be proved empty : he waited, restless and anxious for tlie return of Titus; he expected to meet him at Troas, but Titus did not ai)pear ; apparently, the crisis renuired a longer time than Paul had ex- pected : he moved on to Macedonia ; and there Titus arrived, and with good news.

The majority of the Corinthian Church had formally punished the otl'ender : they had received Titua with fear and trembling : they had shown regret ifiX theii previous conduct, indignation against the otfender, enthusiasm for St. Paul : Paul's boast had been justified : Titus had been overjoyed : St. I'aul was comforted (2" 7""'').— (c) On the receipt of this news Paul wrote 2 Cor.

and requested 'Titus, who gladly accepted the request, to go, accompanied by two other brethren, on a fresh visit to Corinth and to complete the collection for the saints. Titus was to represent the apostle ; the two brethren represented Churches, probably those of Macedonia (S'-'^). The next reference to Titus is in the letter to him. Tliis implies that St.

Paul, after the release from his first Koman imprisonment, had travelled with Titus in the East, that they had landed at Crete and had evangelized several to\ms (kot4 TriSXiK, 1°), hut that St. Paul had been unable to remain longer, and had therefore left Titus behind to appoint presbyters and to complete the organiza- tion of the Church. Titus found consiilerable ojiposition, especially from the Jews (1'"), and much tendency to insubordination, and possibly had written to St.

Paul to report this and to ask for his advice(so Zahn, Einleitunt/, i p. 430). Whether this were so or not, St. Paul wrote a short letter pressing him to complete the organization, to ordain presbyters, to teach sound doctrine and avoid empty disputations, and to exercise his authority firmly. The letter was probably sent by Zenas and Apollos (3"), and 'Titus was re- quested to be ready to leave Crete and join St.

Paul at Nicopolis as soon as he should receive a further message through Artemas or Tychicua (3'-). Probably it was thence that St. Paul de- spatched him on a mission to Dalmatia (2 Ti 4'°). A comparison of 1 Ti 3'- with Tit 2'° perhaps suggests that Titus was older than Timothy, and the relations of the two with the difficulties at Corinth imply that he was the stronger man (cf. 1 Co 16'"* with 2 Co 7'°).

He volunteers readily for a delicate task (2 Co 8"), is full of atl'ection and enthusiasm for the Corinthians {ib. 7'°) ; he is ellective, free from all sordid motives, sharing St. Paul's spirit, walking in his steps (12'*), his genuine son (Tit 1^), his brother (2 Co 2"), hii partner and fellow-helper (8^).

The omission of his name in the Acts is scarcely remarkable wlien the references in the Epistles are considered : if the incident of Gal 2 is to be identi- fied with that of Ac 15, he is alluded to, without name, in ni/as iWovs ^S ayrux (v.-) : the incidents of 1 and 2 Cor. are wholly omitted in the Acts : and those of the Epistle to Titus and of 2 Tim. fall without its scope.

It is interesting to note that Titus, the Gentile, is chiefly employed in missions to the mainly Gentile Church of Corinth : that his principal work there was organizing the collection lor the saints, carrying out the injunction to 'remember the poor,' laid upon St. Paul in his presence at Jeru- salem (Gal 2'") ; and that at Crete he finds his chief opponents among those of the circumcision, (Tit 1'").

Subsequent Church historians treated Titus as bishop of Crete and living a celibate life to an old age in the island (Eusebius, HE lll. iv. 6; Cun.st. Apost. vii. 46 ; pseudo-Ign. ad Philnd. c. 3 ; and for fuller details, Lipsius, Die Apokri/ph. Apostel- gesckichte, ii. 2, pj). 401-406). An interesting panegyric on him is found in the works of Andrew of Crete (Migne, Patr. Gr. vol. 97).

His name is given still to churches in Crete : it was appealed to as a battle-cry in the struggles of the Cretans with the Venetians ; his body was said to have been retained at Gortyna for many centuries ; the head was carried away by the Venetians, and is still preserved at St. Mark's. His death is com- TITUS, EPISTLE TO TITUS, EPISTLE TO 782 memorated on Jan. 4 in the Latin Church, on Aug. 25 in the Greek, Syriac, and Maronite Churches {Acta Sancturum, i. pp.

163, 164; Isilles, A'a/«n- darium Manuale). W. LOCK.