Titus

We are unsure who planted the church in Crete. This church plant isn’t mentioned in the book of Acts, and this letter doesn’t tell us who started this church either. Both Paul and Titus served there at one point, because Paul said, “I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders” (Titus 1:5). This implies that Paul led alongside Titus for some time before moving on to a different city.

Perhaps Paul planted this church on his unnamed “Fourth Missionary Journey,” or maybe Titus originally planted this church (or both?). It’s also possible that the church began through the Cretans in Jerusalem at Pentecost (Acts 2:11). We’re unsure. All we know is that Titus was a central overseer of this church.

The church existed for some time. After all, the gospel had spread to multiple cities (Titus 1:5), and the overseers of the church had growing children who were believers (Titus 1:6). Most importantly, there needed to be “sufficient time to establish a pool of eligible overseers who [could] model the qualities enumerated in Titus 1:5-9.”

Authorship

Critical scholarship argues against Paul’s authorship of the Pastoral Epistles (including Titus). We disagree. For a defense of Pauline authorship, see our earlier article “Introduction to 1 & 2 Timothy.”

Who was Titus?

Luke never mentions Titus in the book of Acts. Paul, however, mentions Titus many times in his letters (e.g. Galatians, 2 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy), giving us details into the character and profile of this man:

• Titus was an uncircumcised Greek Christian (Gal. 2:3).

• Titus personally refreshed and comforted Paul during a time of depression (2 Cor. 7:6-7).

• Titus was a man of superb character (2 Cor. 12:18).

• Titus was last found serving in Dalmatia (2 Tim. 4:10).

• Paul calls Titus his “true child in the faith” (Titus 1:4). This implies that Paul and Titus shared a close friendship with one another.

Paul may have written this letter from Corinth because he sends it with Apollos (Titus 3:13), who was a leader in Corinth (Acts 18:24-28; 19:1; 1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4-6; 4:6; 16:12). While this is somewhat of a personal letter (Titus 1:5; 2:7-8; 3:12-14), Paul addresses the plural churches in Crete at the end of the letter: “Grace be with you all” (Titus 3:15). Therefore, this letter is addressed to all of us and “is written for public dissemination.”

Date

If we accept that Paul had been imprisoned from AD 61-63, then this letter would have been written after this time. Paul makes no mention of the Neronian persecution in AD 64, which may date it before that time, though not necessarily. Paul also wrote before the winter months (Titus 3:12). From this data, Hiebert dates the letter to the fall of AD 63. Mounce states that “it is not possible to determine whether Paul wrote 1 Timothy or Titus first.” However, he states, “The similarity of language between 1 Timothy and Titus may suggest that they were written at approximately the same time.”