Corpus-Paul

[George F Somsel <gfsomsel AT juno.com>]

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 22:41:45 -0800 Richard Fellows <rfellows AT shaw.ca>
writes:
> 
> > I have not responded because I cannot really take such double 
> naming
> seriously in the Greco-Roman
> > world. Itwould be highly interesting for Richard fellows to submit 
> his
> Timothy=Titus hypothesis to
> > the classics list. I suspect it would be heartily rejected.
> 
> Edgar, this post is very unhelpful. It does not engage with the 
> issues in
> any way, but just dismisses the issue out of hand.
> 
> I can only assume that you have misunderstood, or not read, what is
> being proposed. My proposal is that Titus was given the NEW NAME 
> "Timothy"
> while he was a Christian. Timothy means "honouring God" or
> "honoured by God", which are very suitable titles for this 
> prominent
> believer. This type of religious renaming is no different from 
> numerous
> other cases in the ancient world. The phenomenon is well attested in 
> the
> biblical tradition (see Otto Eissfeldt "Renaming in the old 
> testament" in
> Words and Meanings CUP 1968) and in the early church (consider 
> Simon-Peter,
> Joseph-Barnabas and  Ignatius-Theophorus) and among pagans (see 
> G.H.R.
> Horsley, "Name Change as an Indication of Religious Conversion in 
> Antiquity"
> , Numen 34 (1987) p. 1-17). So I do not understand the problem that 
> you have
> with Titus-Timothy.
> 
> Richard.
> _______________________________________________

Why is it that we have a renaming story for Abram / Abraham, Jacob /
Israel, Simon / Peter-Cephas, but none for this alleged Titus / Timothy? 
In fact, it is only after many centuries that someone presumes to realize
that the two might be the same?

george
gfsomsel
___________