Corpus-Paul

[Edgar Krentz <ekrentz AT lstc.edu>]

Please note that the textual tradition in Gal 2:5 is complicated; 
some texts seem to imply that Titus was circumcized--though v. 3 
implies that he was not. The syntax of these verses in Galatians 2 is 
quite mixed up in Greek.

Let me add that the references to Titus in Crete in the pastoral 
epistles may or may not be primary evidence for the historical Titus. 
Like many others, I date the pastorals in the second century, written 
by a somewhat prosaic Paulinist.

At 3:43 AM +1100 10/28/00, Deborah Greenhill wrote:
> Blessings, Loren,
> Your thesis about circumcision on the basis of need sounds very good, but
> leaves out one particular point.  Titus was not circumcised, yet he was a
> leader of a mixed group of gentiles and Jews in Crete.  My Bible commentary
> says that Titus had much trouble during his ministry in Crete.  Perhaps it
> was because he was not circumcised?   When Paul gives Titus the
> qualifications of appointment of elders, he comments in verse 10 on the
> "unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the
> circumcision."   Could there be a reason why the Jews in the congregations,
> also known as "the circumcision", be unruly?  The Jews probably wanted a
> circumcised leader, and felt compelled to revolt. This is a reasonable
> conclusion; would you want your leader living on less standards than you
> uphold?  With first century Jewish ideas of  separation between Jews and
> gentiles, the Jews at Crete probably felt compelled to keep their distances
> from an uncircumcised pastor.   It is clear that Timothy was circumcised by
> Paul to prevent such revolts while they were ministering together.
>
> So why the inconsistency regarding the issue of circumcision?  I am still
> trying to figure that one out.
>
> Thanks for listening,
> Dr. Deborah J. Greenhill
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Loren Rosson" <rossoiii AT yahoo.com>
> To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 10:09 PM
> Subject: [corpus-paul] Re: Paul's silence about the decree
>
>
> >  Richard wrote:
> >
> >  > It is very unlikely that Paul circumcised anyone
> >  > other than Timothy. He
> >  > probably believed in circumcision only when it was
> >  > required for missionary
> >  > reasons to make the candidate acceptable to Jews (1
> >  > Cor 9.20-21). This
> >  > probably only applied to Timothy, because we know of
> >  > no other gentile who
>  > > accompanied Paul as a fellow missionary.

--
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Edgar Krentz
Professor of New Testament, Emeritus
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615
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e-mail: ekrentz AT lstc.edu
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GERASKO D' AEI POLLA DIDASKOMENOS
"I grow old, constantly learning many things." [Solon of Athens]
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