Read this if you…
- want a Pastoral Epistle laying out the early-church criteria for elders and bishops
- like Paul's terse advice to a delegate planting churches on rowdy Crete
- care about the small NT books that shaped centuries of church polity and ordination
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Depicted in Art
Paul sits in a darkened cell, pen and codex on his lap, a sword leaning beside him — caught mid-composition by a shaft of light from a small window.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1627
Paul stands on a stone platform in a Greek square, arms raised, preaching to a half-circle of Athenians — the canonical Renaissance image of Paul's Greek mission.
Raphael, 1515
Peter and Paul face one another against a dark ground; Paul on the right grips a closed book of his epistles and rests a hand on the table, Peter on the left holds the keys — the two pillars of the apostolic Church paired.
El Greco, 1607
John stands at the front holding an open New Testament, reading the opening verses of his Gospel; Peter looks over his shoulder holding the golden key.
Albrecht Dürer, 1526
Medieval Byzantine fresco portrait of Saint Titus in episcopal vestments, holding a closed Gospel book and turning slightly toward the viewer.
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Notable Quotes
Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
- Martin Luther, Protestant reformer, 1483–1546: "This is a short epistle, but a model of Christian doctrine … all that is necessary for a Christian to know and to live."
- John Chrysostom, Early Church Father, Archbishop of Constantinople, c. 347–407: "This is a proof of the virtue of Titus, that he did not require many words, but a short remembrance."
- John Calvin, Protestant reformer, founder of Reformed theology, 1509–1564: Not so much a private letter to Titus as a public epistle to the Cretans, clothing Titus with Paul's own authority.
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