Corpus-Paul

[Loren Rosson <rossoiii AT yahoo.com>]

Edgar Krentz wrote:

> Please note that the textual tradition in Gal 2:5 is
> complicated; 
> some texts seem to imply that Titus was
> circumcized.

Some texts do imply this. But had Titus ended up
circumcised, Paul wouldn't have appealed to the
account as justification that the Galatian influencers
are wrong.
> 
> 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.

Like Edgar, I doubt that Paul wrote the pastorals
(though I take it he wrote Ephesians and Colossians).
I've been unable to harmonize (credibly) the pastoral
"travel accounts" with the itinerary in the other 10
letters and Acts. But I don't find it unlikely that
Titus worked on Crete, nor that the letter preserves
actual conflicts similar to the ones the historical
Titus dealt with. I suspect Deborah is right: On Crete
there were probably Jewish factions who resented an
uncircumcised Greek like Titus leading them.

Deborah Greenhill wrote:

> Loren,
> Your thesis about circumcision on the basis of need
> sounds very good, but
> leaves out one particular point.  Titus was not
> circumcised... [But] it is clear that
> Timothy was circumcised...

> So why the inconsistency regarding the issue of
> circumcision?  I am still
> trying to figure that one out.

Deborah, I don't see an "inconsistency" with Paul
having Timothy circumcised and Titus not. For one,
Timothy had mixed heritage (as Richard pointed out).
But the more important was the desire of the party in
question. Paul would never have forbidden anyone to be
circumcised if that's what they really wanted. (The
Jewish people had some rather extreme ideas about what
should be done with people who "forbade" circumcision
to willing subjects.) He strongly advised against it
in the context of confusion, uncertainty, and
"Judaizing" pressure/influence. But if Titus had
conscienciously wanted to be circumcised, Paul
wouldn't have tried to dissuade him -- far less use
him as a "test case" in the first council meeting.

> Thanks for listening,
> Dr. Deborah J. Greenhill

Thanks for asking.

Loren Rosson III,
Nashua NH
rossoiii AT yahoo.com


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