Paulus Titus

Interviewing Paul on his letter to TITUS by Dr Carmel Mallia(Malta)© 2008

1.On Paul I tried to find him. Who? Who else but “Ipse doctor gentium”, the apostle of the Gentiles as he is commonly called. Can‟t you understand who? Paul. Paul recognised me at once. He opened his arms as if he was waiting for me, and eager to speak. I was amazed with his friendship and sincerity. And he began:”I know you. You come from that tiny island where in AD58 I was shipwrecked, on my way to Rome for my trial.You come from Melita, today you call it Malta. Am I right?” “Totally right, Paul. Do you allow me to call you Paul?” “Why not? Paul is my name. Call me Paul. That‟s all right.”

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“You know why I am asking that? I thought perhaps you are still that person who quarrelled with Peter and the Jerusalem apostles. I thought…” “No! Those times are far behind us now. But then I was right. They had to bow their heads and accept my teachings. Because they understood that even I was called to preach my beloved Christ. At Jerusalem, they were still adoring the Law of Moses, which, yes, is holy, but it was superseded by something new, something wonderful, by the death and resurrection of Christ.The Jews were waiting for liberation from Christ, but instead He offered them redemption, moral salvation, with the hope of the beyond. Christ offered them, us, what was new. So in short Christ substituted the Law. Am I right, my friend?” “Absolutely. At least from what I have read and studied about you. Your mystical and transcendental theology justifies everything,and also on account of this cosmic redemption which scholars call „palingenesis‟…” “Oh, those scholars…each one of them made a post mortem dissication of my letters, and said whatever entered their minds..! “But, dear master, what do you expect them to do if your writings are always speculative and argumentative. Christ was not so. How simple are his words, and direct!” “But, my dear friend, remember, Jesus was Jesus and I am Paul. Nothing to add.” “Anyhow, I don‟t want to polemicize. I simply was sent here by my director to write an article about your epistle to Titus.” 2.Titus “Oh, how long ago! Titus, yes, my dear Titus. Although a long time now…I still remember that in that letter,…although some think that it was not I who wrote it, although, mind you, not even I remember if I did. But even if I didn‟t write it, it bears my spirit, my eagerness and my gospel. It was one of the last. In it I wanted to behave like the good father addressing myself to all social categories, delivering great teachings. But there I wanted also to be the good shepherd that was preoccupied with the future of those children baptised by me. There I wanted to delineate the figure of the bishop who is an inspector that should be present in every city as a servant and authentic pastor according to God‟s heart.” “As I see it, this was a totally religious message and not a political one.! “Of course! I never was political in my letters. And above all, I wanted a collegium, not individual actions; in fact I wrote of “old men”, in the plural, with a democratic function not of a bishop (in the singular) with monocratic functions.” 2

“A few minutes ago you mentioned some scholars that dissicated your doctrine to understand it better. Permit me, please, to add something else. Others discarded some of your works without arguments.” “Marcion...is it right? “ “That‟s right. You read my mind. It seemed he didn‟t like your Pastorals.” “Not only my Pastorals, but all the Old Testament. By the way, I know that there are a lot of very clever Bible exegetes down there, among whom I can‟t forget the inlelligent.uh..uh.. Balthasar.” “ Hans U. von Balthasar, my friend Paul. I know him, yes. All theologians know him. All theologians know each other.” “He wrote sensibly about me and my writings. There are others, so many of them. I forgot their names..” “But, please, I want to stick a little on Titus. First of all who is this man?” “Yes, yes. Titus was a Greek convert, my companion in fact, and I mentioned him in several of my letters. He was with me and Barnabas at Antioch to accompany us to the Council of Jerusalem1, although by the way, his name never occurs in Acts. Perhaps Luke the doctor forgot to mention him, but, anyhow after all these years…” “True, but at a later period, your epistles placed him with you and Timotheus at Ephesus. Titus rejoined you when you were in Macedonia. He is mentioned in the organization of the church in Crete.”2 “And one of Titus‟ main tasks in Crete was to become acquainted with the character of the Cretans. But to be fair to him, he had already worked with success in the church of Corinth.3 If I remember well, his last note about him is in my IITimothy, chapter 4, verse10, when he appears with me in Rome during my second imprisonment. From Rome he was sent to Dalmatia.4 He was already in Crete when my letter was written.5 What is curious is that the New Testament does not record his death.” ! “But according to tradition, you ordained Titus bishop of Gortyn in Crete and he died in AD 107 when he was about 95 years old. 6 But, professor Paul, I have some more questions to make.What you said up to now is not enough for my manager, although it‟s worthwhile to have been said.”

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Gal.2:1-3;Acts 15:2 Tit.1:5 3 II Cor.7:6,7 4 IITim.4:10 5 Tit.1:5 6 Wikipedia under „Apostle Paul‟. 2

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“I‟m here at your service as I have been in toto for the service of my brethren on earth and especially for the service of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” “Thank you, professor Paul. It‟s most important for me is to know when you wrote this letter to Titus.” “I‟ll tell you. It was the year 58. I thought there was no more work for me in the oriental part of the Roman Empire and so I prepared myself to settle in Rome to evangelise the occidental part of the Empire, in particular Spain. But eventually I was arrested in Jerusalem and afterwards I became captive in Cesarea. Then I went to Rome to be judged by the Emperor‟s tribunal. So I bid farewell to the communities of Greece and Asia.7 Perhaps it was at his meeting with the presbiteroi of Ephesus that gathered in Miletus8 that I wrote this letter.”9 “Now, please, I would like to have from you a sort of background of the birth of the Christian religion. There are so many encyclopaedias and books about this theme that I wonder which to choose and read and…believe.”10 “ I‟ll tell you. A lot of sects began to threaten the existence of the Church in those far away times. So I concentrated my forces and tried to fix the Church‟s constitution. But I paid attention to prepare her against the turmoil of the new theologians including Marcion. The central work of the Church was the catechesis regarding the exaltation of Jesus. There were precise commands in my epistle to the Corinthians11 for the prophets in the course of their ecstasy, and in the Didache about whom and how they should speak at the common Supper. 12 „True prophets‟ and “true doctors” must have been supported; besides, the Didache gave also a certain cover of support. And in addition to these prophets and doctors/teachers in the charismatic endowments, functionaries were elected overseers or bishops, and ministers or deacons to order the Sunday meetings. In Rome there was a body of presbyters who expelled Valentinus and Marcion from the country. The presbyters had already assumed the disciplinary control of the community. The watchword of the church leaders in the campaign against Gnostic heresy is found in my pastoral epistles. Read well ITimothy, chapter 6, verses 20, 21, and you find it there; and IITimothy, chapter 1, verse 14 talks about Timothy who was counselled to guard the deposits of faith against the gnosis. This 7

Acts 20:25 Acts 20:1 9 „Tite‟, Introduction, available from accessed on 25.6.‟07. 10 Alfred Firman Loisy, The Birth of the Christian Religion, from the La Naissance du Christianisme, 1933, Engl. Ed. trans. By L.P. Jacks, 1962, Publ. New Hyde, NY by University Books,Inc., pp. 325360. 11 12:3; Cor.14:29-31 12 10:7; 11:1-2;11:3-6. 8

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excerpt at the closing of ITimothy was aimed directly against Marcion. I had basically the power to “guard the deposit “ against Marcion, with the profession of faith:‟God is one, one also the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a reason for all as witness in his time.” But there is another passage where the target was not Marcion alone but also the Gnostics. The instruments are found in I Timothy, chapter1, verse 4. In ITimothy chapter 6, verses13 and14, I mentioned Pontius Pilate. It‟s a formula taken from a hymn connected with the ritual recitation of the passion story, that‟s all. It‟s all devotion and…Christianity. You know Irenaes.” “Oh surely. What about him?” “He assured everybody that he was in possession of the True Faith “traditionally taught by the elders”. To that I add „‟De Praesentione Haereticorum‟‟ of Tertullian who opposed heretics . He was the one who, although he died a heretic, asserted the Church‟s prescriptive right as exclusive possessor and only competent interpreter of the faith. Isn‟t that nice? And courageous? Eh?” Evidently I couldn‟t add anything to all that. It was so fresh. And, coming from Paul, who could contradict him? He stood up, looked at the sky, as if to scrutinize his mind, put his right hand on my shoulder as if to remind me of something. But it truly reminded me and I asked him: 3.The Pastorals “According to you, how were the Pastorals annexed to the ten other epistles?” “It‟s easy, my friend. Ity‟s so easy. First surely they may have been attached to the ten in a stand against Marcion, so much so that some began to call the thirteen epistle anti-Marcionite. And I add something else here: even the establishment of the canonicity of the four Gospels, after my death, was needed as a united front against the Gnostic irruption and especially against Marcion.” “You are right. You are always right, master Paul. The main body of the New Testament was solidly constituted by the end of the 2 nd century. It included the four Gospels, Acts, your thirteen epistles, one epistle of Peter and one of John.” “Oh Peter! That Jew…!” Here he opened his arms and looked at the sky as if to pray. Afterwards he looked at me and with his finger almost in my face, he continued: “Look, I wanted to add something about the composition of the Church‟s leaders in a congregation.The overseers or bishops were not distinguished from the elders or priests. Elders were also overseers while masters or deacons were subordinate to them. In my so called Pastoral 5

epistles only two orders of administrators were recognised: the bishoppriests and deacons. So, each community would have a collegium of elders presiding, and the deacons would form the executive.The importance of the Pastorals regarded the qualities of the bishops and deacons. This was important since it was they not the prophets or teachers that took care of the congregation. I made it so, that it was the bishoppriest who had to carry out a paternal government to preach an apostolic doctrine.13 Bishops, priests and deacons were accordingly acknowledged as masters of the truth and elders of the cult. Thus, not only the epistle to Titus, but all the Pastorals had as subject: the institution of a system of government which had to put the churches in a posture of effective resistance to the attacks of dangerous innovators.”14 “And in this manner, I continued, the bishops were accounted successors of the apostles and trustees of the apostolic tradition. So from the acts of the Galilean preacher whose aim was the kingdom of God, his crucifiction found its fruit in less than two centuries later as a mighty instrument established throughout the Roman Empire. It‟s the trimph of faith.” “That‟s right. That‟s absolutely right.” “But it was the diffusion of Judaism that had prepared the ground for the Christian success. But then Judaism was powerless to continue on its own.” “Witnesses, those of Jerusalem.Don‟t you agree?” “Surely I agree. On the other hand, Christianity, based on its Saviour(Soter), was encased in the element of human sympathy, born from its first preaching of the gospel and developed in primitive Christianity.This is a whole programme that, as I see it, as I always saw it, continued up to to-day.”15 4.Titus again “Now let me return to Titus in relation to I&II Timothy. First of all is there a relation between them?” “Surely there is, my boy. You should know more than I why the bunch of them is called „Pastorals‟. First of all, IITimothy gives less space than the first to questions of church discipline, but it presented me as the type on which Timothy should have made his model.” “ But, on the other hand, master Paul, was Titus the disciple on the same footing as Timothy?” “By no means, Sir. My epistle to Titus resembles more to the first Timothy than to the second Timothy, and might even be considered a 13

Tit.1:5-9 Loisy,The Pastorals, The Epistle and the Catechesis, ch. 8, ibid. 15 Loisy. 14

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duplication of the first. My letter to Titus talked on how to possess qualities, as in the first Timothy,16 but with more insistence on the need for his being master in doctrine.17According to this letter, my mission was to conduce the elected to the knowledge(épignôsis) of truth, that‟s all.18 Don‟t you think that‟s magnificent enough for an apostle like me to handle?” “Absolutely, professor. Who else could compose such a harmonious concert on the spiritual tapestry?” “Would you, Mr journalist, permit me to elaborate a little more? Titus is a synthesis of ITimothy, who, assure yourself, was to preach sound doctrine and to give specified counsels to old men, old women, the young, even to slaves,19 parallel to other epistles notable I Timothy itself. Titus was to speak with authority, 20 he had to command obedience to magistrates.21 So the function of teaching had to be handled by a bishop, and so the prophets were held responsible for it. They may have taken part at Timothy‟s Episcopal consecration22 but afterwards the role of the teacher was the bishop‟s exclusive prerogative.”23 “How complicate, master Paul. Anyhow, all your epistles are complicated.I wonder how you could cope with all that work, all those errands, all those journeys…, all that teaching!” “My boy, my boy, I had a mission to carry out. That light on the way to Damascus instigated me to move on. Christ was in front of me leading the way and I had to follow.Of my own free will, of course, but it was a must. I began, I had to continue.” “That was your wish, master Paul. All the Church owes its Christianity to you. You were the primum movens of our Christianity.” “Ah here, the primum movens was Christ not me. It was He who changed my life and he who led it till my last sigh. I ran the race. I had to receive the crown.It was obvious, no? That was enough for me.” “Let me clap my hands, professor Paul. You‟re excellent. You always were. But now let me warn you, great apostle, that time is running out, and for us free-lancers time costs money. Two more questions, if you don‟t mind: Do you remember what are the principal divisions of the epistle to Titus?” “Yes..If I remember well…yes it‟s coming… its principal divisions are..or rather were..first I addressed Titus, I saluted him; then I unfolded 16

3:1-40 Loisy,ibid. 18 Edouard Cothenet, La lecture liturgique des Epîtres Pastorales, from „Esprit et Vie‟, available from: accessed 25.6.‟07. 19 Tim.2:1-11 20 Cfr.ITim.4:12 21 Cfr.ITim.2:1-2; Rom.13:1-7; IPet.2:13-14 22 ITim.1:18&4:14 23 Loisy 17

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the qualifications of the elders or bishops preparing him to encounter the teachings of false leaders. Then I delivered sound doctrine for all classes of people:men, women, children, slaves, masters.Then I advised them to submit to authority who, by the way, should respect everyone. Then, the most important in all the letter, I advised them to avoid stupid controversies, dissensions and quarrels. Finally, I gave my useful final instructions and closed the letter.But every advice and every teaching of mine was based on Christian principles clad in God‟s Grace.” 5. Church Organization “All right. It was a gross effort on your part to remember all that, after so many years. It seems that dementia passed over you with respect, as sea water slips on a ducks‟back. For me it‟s difficult to understand all you did in those times. But I always was eager to know from the horse‟s mouth something about the organization of the churches founded by your altruism.”24 “Don‟t worry, I‟ll tell you, don‟t worry. And, mind you, what I‟m going to tell you is well written in my „To Titus‟. First of all: the organization of the Church, and this you may find in the first chapter. A church leader had to be irreproachable, married only once, not arrogant, not dishonest, truthful, just, holy. Mind you, when I wrote the word „episkopos‟ and „presbyteros‟ I intended them to refer to the same person. I didn‟t mention deacons in Titus. Now, there comes the second chapter. It‟s all about doctrine. It‟s a tapestry of the Grace of God:salvation for all. The programme of a christian as I saw it was to renounce to impiety and wordly concupiscence, to live in justice and piety and to hope for Christ‟s glory.” “If I am not mistaken, in this chapter…” “Therefore you already read it… dear journalist.” “Surely, master Paul. What I wanted was only to hear it from your very lips, you who wrote it with so much enthusiasm, although some say it was not you who wrote it.” “Anyhow…sort of “sartor resartus”, a patchy work they say, no?. Let them say what they like. I or others…the ideas are mine…take it or leave it.” “What I wanted to ask now is that in this same second chapter of Titus, you gave your congregation a definition of Christ‟s work.” “Yes, surely. How could I leave such an item out of my epistle. It‟s all about Christ, his Church, the management of his Church, his future Church. He offered himself to save us, so that the people be purified and zealous, till the manifestation of his glory. That was in a succinct way my 24

„Epître a Tite‟ from „La Vie de l‟Eglise‟ from Le Film du Nouveau Testament, available from: accessed 26.6.‟07.

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intention of the future Church, of Christianity as I envisaged it. But there is something else, my son, the Church‟s work.And that brings us to chapter three.The life of a Christian is centred in reviewing past sins that surely are forgiven by God‟s grace, and the repentant is saved and may inherit eternal life. Therefore one had to avoid vain discussions and practice good works.” “Good works? Ha, ha!But you very rarely stress good works. Your gospel was always based on sola fide, master Paul.” “That I always took forgranted. How could you have faith if you don‟t practice good works? I always mentioned faith, because I wanted to stress the division between faith in Christ as a new revival and the old light of the Law that, although it remained holy, but Christ had surpassed it. That‟s all. Perhaps not everyone understood me in this. But believe me, I never ever thought of distinguishing between faith and good works or I ever wanted to discredit good works. Remember, Paul is Paul. That light made my mind as clear as a glass. Remember that.” 6. Conclusion “I think it‟s time to leave each other. One last word from you, please, master Paul, and with which I have to conclude my artricle which I have to hand to my superior to-morrow morning. Go straight to the point, in a few words.” “After all that…what should I add? Perhaps that the leaders of your Church, in these present turbulent times, should read well my letter to Titus. You are in need of such teachings. Don‟t‟ leave out the other two of the so called „Pastorals‟ for even they have something to add. Although I can‟t leave out either all my letters, where every Christian, all the Church in general, or better all the churches, since today one can‟t speak of one Church, at least it seems to me from what I hear from the beyond.A final word, my boy, study well my letters. Sic itur ad astra.”25 My newspaper editor accepted this interview as I handed it to him for inclusion in to-morrow‟s edition. By the way, he wanted to include even the foot-notes, which I wrote only to prove and give more weight to some truths enunciated in the article. He astonishingly exclaimed:”An interview with Paul? My! That‟s great!” ***************** Bibliography Cothenet, Edouard, La lecture liturgique des Epîtres Pastorales, from „Esprit et Vie‟, available from: .

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Its in this way that one soars to the stars(or to heaven).

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Epître a Tite‟ from „La Vie de l‟Eglise‟ from Le Film du Nouveau Testament, available from: . Loisy, Alfred Firman, The Birth of the Christian Religion, from the La Naissance du Christianisme, 1933, Engl. Ed. trans. By L.P. Jacks, 1962, Publ. New Hyde, NY by University Books,Inc., pp. 325-360. Tite‟, Introduction, available from . Wikipedia under: „Apostle Paul‟. ******************

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