Jensens survey of the old testament adam 541

MAP X

These towns were heavily populated,
described by one writer as “neither
peaceable among themselves, nor very
patient of foreign dominion.” Morally and
socially the Cretans had a bad reputation in
the Mediterranean world, illustrated by
these two sayings from classical writing:
“Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy
gluttons” (Epimenides, quoted by Paul in
1:12). “The Cretans are always brigands and
piratical, and unjust” (Leonides).
3. Churches of Crete. It is not known when
or by whom the Cretans were
rst
evangelized. The original nucleus of


Christians may have begun on the day of
Pentecost, at Jerusalem (Acts 2:11). Paul did
not visit the island on any of his missionary
journeys. He may have preached in the cities
of the island on his brief visit after the
Roman imprisonment. (Read Titus 1:5.) By
the time he wrote to Titus, however, he had
many Christian friends living there (Titus
3:15). The very fact that God included in the
canon of the New Testament a letter written
indirectly to the Cretan churches that were
not widely known to the

rst-century
Christian world tells us that no local church,
however small or insigni cant in man’s eyes,
is overlooked by God.
4. Occasion of writing. Paul wrote the book
of Titus for many of the same reasons he
wrote the book of 1 Timothy. These include:
a. disorder and false teaching threatening
the local churches (1:10-11)


b. inconsistent living by church members
c. need for instruction concerning church
organization.
5 . Purposes of the epistle. The main
purposes of the epistle, in the immediate
setting, include (a) to advise Titus in his task
of superintending the circuit of Cretan
churches as Paul’s representative (1:5); (b)
to instruct and exhort both Titus and the
churches regarding Christian behavior
consistent with Christian doctrine (chaps. 13); (c) to instruct Titus concerning personal
matters (3:12-13).
6. Main contents. Your survey of Titus will
show the main subjects discussed by Paul in
the epistle. The predominant theme is that
of
maintaining
good
works

as
a
demonstration of a saving faith. Read the
passages 2:11-14 and 3:4-7, which have
been called two of the most comprehensive


statements of Christian truth to be found in
the New Testament.
7 . Place among the pastoral epistles. Of the
pastoral epistles, 1 Timothy and Titus are
most alike regarding background and
content, and in one sense could be called
twin epistles. The three pastoral epistles are
compared in the accompanying diagram.
PASTORAL EPISTLES COMPARED

XL SURVEY OF TITUS
A. READINGS
Follow the stages and exercises of survey