Interviewing Paul on his letter to

TITUS
by Dr Carmel Mallia(Malta)© 2008

1.On Paul
I tried to find him. Who? Who else but “Ipse doctor gentium”, the apostle
of the Gentiles as he is commonly called. Can‟t you understand who?
Paul.
Paul recognised me at once. He opened his arms as if he was
waiting for me, and eager to speak. I was amazed with his friendship and
sincerity. And he began:”I know you. You come from that tiny island
where in AD58 I was shipwrecked, on my way to Rome for my trial.You
come from Melita, today you call it Malta. Am I right?”
“Totally right, Paul. Do you allow me to call you Paul?”
“Why not? Paul is my name. Call me Paul. That‟s all right.”

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 “You know why I am asking that? I thought perhaps you are still
that person who quarrelled with Peter and the Jerusalem apostles. I
thought…”
“No! Those times are far behind us now. But then I was right. They
had to bow their heads and accept my teachings. Because they understood
that even I was called to preach my beloved Christ. At Jerusalem, they
were still adoring the Law of Moses, which, yes, is holy, but it was
superseded by something new, something wonderful, by the death and
resurrection of Christ.The Jews were waiting for liberation from Christ,
but instead He offered them redemption, moral salvation, with the hope
of the beyond. Christ offered them, us, what was new. So in short Christ
substituted the Law. Am I right, my friend?”
“Absolutely. At least from what I have read and studied about you.
Your mystical and transcendental theology justifies everything,and also
on account of this cosmic redemption which scholars call
„palingenesis‟…”
“Oh, those scholars…each one of them made a post mortem
dissication of my letters, and said whatever entered their minds..!
“But, dear master, what do you expect them to do if your writings
are always speculative and argumentative. Christ was not so. How simple
are his words, and direct!”
“But, my dear friend, remember, Jesus was Jesus and I am Paul.
Nothing to add.”
“Anyhow, I don‟t want to polemicize. I simply was sent here by
my director to write an article about your epistle to Titus.”

2.Titus
“Oh, how long ago! Titus, yes, my dear Titus. Although a long time
now…I still remember that in that letter,…although some think that it
was not I who wrote it, although, mind you, not even I remember if I did.
But even if I didn‟t write it, it bears my spirit, my eagerness and my
gospel. It was one of the last. In it I wanted to behave like the good father
addressing myself to all social categories, delivering great teachings. But
there I wanted also to be the good shepherd that was preoccupied with the
future of those children baptised by me. There I wanted to delineate the
figure of the bishop who is an inspector that should be present in every
city as a servant and authentic pastor according to God‟s heart.”
“As I see it, this was a totally religious message and not a political
one.!
“Of course! I never was political in my letters. And above all, I
wanted a collegium, not individual actions; in fact I wrote of “old men”,
in the plural, with a democratic function not of a bishop (in the singular)
with monocratic functions.”

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 “A few minutes ago you mentioned some scholars that dissicated
your doctrine to understand it better. Permit me, please, to add something
else. Others discarded some of your works without arguments.”
“Marcion...is it right? “
“That‟s right. You read my mind. It seemed he didn‟t like your
Pastorals.”
“Not only my Pastorals, but all the Old Testament. By the way, I
know that there are a lot of very clever Bible exegetes down there, among
whom I can‟t forget the inlelligent.uh..uh.. Balthasar.”
“ Hans U. von Balthasar, my friend Paul. I know him, yes. All
theologians know him. All theologians know each other.”
“He wrote sensibly about me and my writings. There are others, so
many of them. I forgot their names..”
“But, please, I want to stick a little on Titus. First of all who is this
man?”
“Yes, yes. Titus was a Greek convert, my companion in fact, and I
mentioned him in several of my letters. He was with me and Barnabas at
Antioch to accompany us to the Council of Jerusalem1, although by the
way, his name never occurs in Acts. Perhaps Luke the doctor forgot to
mention him, but, anyhow after all these years…”
“True, but at a later period, your epistles placed him with you and
Timotheus at Ephesus. Titus rejoined you when you were in Macedonia.
He is mentioned in the organization of the church in Crete.”2
“And one of Titus‟ main tasks in Crete was to become acquainted
with the character of the Cretans. But to be fair to him, he had already
worked with success in the church of Corinth.3 If I remember well, his
last note about him is in my IITimothy, chapter 4, verse10, when he
appears with me in Rome during my second imprisonment. From Rome
he was sent to Dalmatia.4 He was already in Crete when my letter was
written.5 What is curious is that the New Testament does not record his
death.” !
“But according to tradition, you ordained Titus bishop of Gortyn in
Crete and he died in AD 107 when he was about 95 years old. 6 But,
professor Paul, I have some more questions to make.What you said up to
now is not enough for my manager, although it‟s worthwhile to have been
said.”

1
Gal.2:1-3;Acts 15:2
2
Tit.1:5
3
II Cor.7:6,7
4
IITim.4:10
5
Tit.1:5
6
Wikipedia under „Apostle Paul‟.

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 “I‟m here at your service as I have been in toto for the service of
my brethren on earth and especially for the service of my Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.”
“Thank you, professor Paul. It‟s most important for me is to know
when you wrote this letter to Titus.”
“I‟ll tell you. It was the year 58. I thought there was no more
work for me in the oriental part of the Roman Empire and so I prepared
myself to settle in Rome to evangelise the occidental part of the Empire,
in particular Spain. But eventually I was arrested in Jerusalem and
afterwards I became captive in Cesarea. Then I went to Rome to be
judged by the Emperor‟s tribunal. So I bid farewell to the communities of
Greece and Asia.7 Perhaps it was at his meeting with the presbiteroi of
Ephesus that gathered in Miletus8 that I wrote this letter.”9
“Now, please, I would like to have from you a sort of background
of the birth of the Christian religion. There are so many encyclopaedias
and books about this theme that I wonder which to choose and read
and…believe.”10
“ I‟ll tell you. A lot of sects began to threaten the existence of the
Church in those far away times. So I concentrated my forces and tried to
fix the Church‟s constitution. But I paid attention to prepare her against
the turmoil of the new theologians including Marcion. The central work
of the Church was the catechesis regarding the exaltation of Jesus. There
were precise commands in my epistle to the Corinthians11 for the prophets
in the course of their ecstasy, and in the Didache about whom and how
they should speak at the common Supper. 12 „True prophets‟ and “true
doctors” must have been supported; besides, the Didache gave also a
certain cover of support. And in addition to these prophets and
doctors/teachers in the charismatic endowments, functionaries were
elected overseers or bishops, and ministers or deacons to order the
Sunday meetings. In Rome there was a body of presbyters who expelled
Valentinus and Marcion from the country. The presbyters had already
assumed the disciplinary control of the community. The watchword of the
church leaders in the campaign against Gnostic heresy is found in my
pastoral epistles. Read well ITimothy, chapter 6, verses 20, 21, and you
find it there; and IITimothy, chapter 1, verse 14 talks about Timothy who
was counselled to guard the deposits of faith against the gnosis. This
7
Acts 20:25
8
Acts 20:1
9
„Tite‟, Introduction, available from <http://www.sobicain.org/introduccionesFra.asp?T=69> accessed
on 25.6.‟07.
10
Alfred Firman Loisy, The Birth of the Christian Religion, from the La Naissance du Christianisme,
1933, Engl. Ed. trans. By L.P. Jacks, 1962, Publ. New Hyde, NY by University Books,Inc., pp. 325-
360.
11
12:3; Cor.14:29-31
12
10:7; 11:1-2;11:3-6.

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excerpt at the closing of ITimothy was aimed directly against Marcion. I
had basically the power to “guard the deposit “ against Marcion, with the
profession of faith:‟God is one, one also the mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a reason for all as witness in
his time.” But there is another passage where the target was not Marcion
alone but also the Gnostics. The instruments are found in I Timothy,
chapter1, verse 4. In ITimothy chapter 6, verses13 and14, I mentioned
Pontius Pilate. It‟s a formula taken from a hymn connected with the ritual
recitation of the passion story, that‟s all. It‟s all devotion
and…Christianity. You know Irenaes.”
“Oh surely. What about him?”
“He assured everybody that he was in possession of the True Faith
“traditionally taught by the elders”. To that I add „‟De Praesentione
Haereticorum‟‟ of Tertullian who opposed heretics . He was the one who,
although he died a heretic, asserted the Church‟s prescriptive right as
exclusive possessor and only competent interpreter of the faith. Isn‟t that
nice? And courageous? Eh?”
Evidently I couldn‟t add anything to all that. It was so fresh. And,
coming from Paul, who could contradict him? He stood up, looked at the
sky, as if to scrutinize his mind, put his right hand on my shoulder as if to
remind me of something. But it truly reminded me and I asked him:

3.The Pastorals
“According to you, how were the Pastorals annexed to the ten other
epistles?”
“It‟s easy, my friend. Ity‟s so easy. First surely they may have
been attached to the ten in a stand against Marcion, so much so that some
began to call the thirteen epistle anti-Marcionite. And I add something
else here: even the establishment of the canonicity of the four Gospels,
after my death, was needed as a united front against the Gnostic irruption
and especially against Marcion.”
“You are right. You are always right, master Paul. The main body
of the New Testament was solidly constituted by the end of the 2 nd
century. It included the four Gospels, Acts, your thirteen epistles, one
epistle of Peter and one of John.”
“Oh Peter! That Jew…!”
Here he opened his arms and looked at the sky as if to pray.
Afterwards he looked at me and with his finger almost in my face, he
continued:
“Look, I wanted to add something about the composition of the
Church‟s leaders in a congregation.The overseers or bishops were not
distinguished from the elders or priests. Elders were also overseers while
masters or deacons were subordinate to them. In my so called Pastoral

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epistles only two orders of administrators were recognised: the bishop-
priests and deacons. So, each community would have a collegium of
elders presiding, and the deacons would form the executive.The
importance of the Pastorals regarded the qualities of the bishops and
deacons. This was important since it was they not the prophets or teachers
that took care of the congregation. I made it so, that it was the bishop-
priest who had to carry out a paternal government to preach an apostolic
doctrine.13 Bishops, priests and deacons were accordingly acknowledged
as masters of the truth and elders of the cult. Thus, not only the epistle to
Titus, but all the Pastorals had as subject: the institution of a system of
government which had to put the churches in a posture of effective
resistance to the attacks of dangerous innovators.”14
“And in this manner, I continued, the bishops were accounted
successors of the apostles and trustees of the apostolic tradition. So from
the acts of the Galilean preacher whose aim was the kingdom of God, his
crucifiction found its fruit in less than two centuries later as a mighty
instrument established throughout the Roman Empire. It‟s the trimph of
faith.”
“That‟s right. That‟s absolutely right.”
“But it was the diffusion of Judaism that had prepared the ground
for the Christian success. But then Judaism was powerless to continue on
its own.”
“Witnesses, those of Jerusalem.Don‟t you agree?”
“Surely I agree. On the other hand, Christianity, based on its
Saviour(Soter), was encased in the element of human sympathy, born
from its first preaching of the gospel and developed in primitive
Christianity.This is a whole programme that, as I see it, as I always saw it,
continued up to to-day.”15

4.Titus again
“Now let me return to Titus in relation to I&II Timothy. First of all is
there a relation between them?”
“Surely there is, my boy. You should know more than I why the
bunch of them is called „Pastorals‟. First of all, IITimothy gives less
space than the first to questions of church discipline, but it presented me
as the type on which Timothy should have made his model.”
“ But, on the other hand, master Paul, was Titus the disciple on the
same footing as Timothy?”
“By no means, Sir. My epistle to Titus resembles more to the first
Timothy than to the second Timothy, and might even be considered a
13
Tit.1:5-9
14
Loisy,The Pastorals, The Epistle and the Catechesis, ch. 8, ibid.
15
Loisy.

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duplication of the first. My letter to Titus talked on how to possess
qualities, as in the first Timothy,16 but with more insistence on the need
for his being master in doctrine.17According to this letter, my mission was
to conduce the elected to the knowledge(épignôsis) of truth, that‟s all.18
Don‟t you think that‟s magnificent enough for an apostle like me to
handle?”
“Absolutely, professor. Who else could compose such a
harmonious concert on the spiritual tapestry?”
“Would you, Mr journalist, permit me to elaborate a little more?
Titus is a synthesis of ITimothy, who, assure yourself, was to preach
sound doctrine and to give specified counsels to old men, old women, the
young, even to slaves,19 parallel to other epistles notable I Timothy itself.
Titus was to speak with authority, 20 he had to command obedience to
magistrates.21 So the function of teaching had to be handled by a bishop,
and so the prophets were held responsible for it. They may have taken
part at Timothy‟s Episcopal consecration22 but afterwards the role of the
teacher was the bishop‟s exclusive prerogative.”23
“How complicate, master Paul. Anyhow, all your epistles are
complicated.I wonder how you could cope with all that work, all those
errands, all those journeys…, all that teaching!”
“My boy, my boy, I had a mission to carry out. That light on the
way to Damascus instigated me to move on. Christ was in front of me
leading the way and I had to follow.Of my own free will, of course, but it
was a must. I began, I had to continue.”
“That was your wish, master Paul. All the Church owes its
Christianity to you. You were the primum movens of our Christianity.”
“Ah here, the primum movens was Christ not me. It was He who
changed my life and he who led it till my last sigh. I ran the race. I had to
receive the crown.It was obvious, no? That was enough for me.”
“Let me clap my hands, professor Paul. You‟re excellent. You
always were. But now let me warn you, great apostle, that time is running
out, and for us free-lancers time costs money. Two more questions, if you
don‟t mind: Do you remember what are the principal divisions of the
epistle to Titus?”
“Yes..If I remember well…yes it‟s coming… its principal divisions
are..or rather were..first I addressed Titus, I saluted him; then I unfolded
16
3:1-40
17
Loisy,ibid.
18
Edouard Cothenet, La lecture liturgique des Epîtres Pastorales, from „Esprit et Vie‟, available from:
<http://www.esprit-et-vie.com/breve.php3?id_breve=27> accessed 25.6.‟07.
19
Tim.2:1-11
20
Cfr.ITim.4:12
21
Cfr.ITim.2:1-2; Rom.13:1-7; IPet.2:13-14
22
ITim.1:18&4:14
23
Loisy

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the qualifications of the elders or bishops preparing him to encounter the
teachings of false leaders. Then I delivered sound doctrine for all classes
of people:men, women, children, slaves, masters.Then I advised them to
submit to authority who, by the way, should respect everyone. Then, the
most important in all the letter, I advised them to avoid stupid
controversies, dissensions and quarrels. Finally, I gave my useful final
instructions and closed the letter.But every advice and every teaching of
mine was based on Christian principles clad in God‟s Grace.”

5. Church Organization
“All right. It was a gross effort on your part to remember all that, after so
many years. It seems that dementia passed over you with respect, as sea
water slips on a ducks‟back. For me it‟s difficult to understand all you did
in those times. But I always was eager to know from the horse‟s mouth
something about the organization of the churches founded by your
altruism.”24
“Don‟t worry, I‟ll tell you, don‟t worry. And, mind you, what I‟m
going to tell you is well written in my „To Titus‟. First of all: the
organization of the Church, and this you may find in the first chapter. A
church leader had to be irreproachable, married only once, not arrogant,
not dishonest, truthful, just, holy. Mind you, when I wrote the word
„episkopos‟ and „presbyteros‟ I intended them to refer to the same person.
I didn‟t mention deacons in Titus. Now, there comes the second chapter.
It‟s all about doctrine. It‟s a tapestry of the Grace of God:salvation for all.
The programme of a christian as I saw it was to renounce to impiety and
wordly concupiscence, to live in justice and piety and to hope for Christ‟s
glory.”
“If I am not mistaken, in this chapter…”
“Therefore you already read it… dear journalist.”
“Surely, master Paul. What I wanted was only to hear it from your
very lips, you who wrote it with so much enthusiasm, although some say
it was not you who wrote it.”
“Anyhow…sort of “sartor resartus”, a patchy work they say, no?.
Let them say what they like. I or others…the ideas are mine…take it or
leave it.”
“What I wanted to ask now is that in this same second chapter of
Titus, you gave your congregation a definition of Christ‟s work.”
“Yes, surely. How could I leave such an item out of my epistle. It‟s
all about Christ, his Church, the management of his Church, his future
Church. He offered himself to save us, so that the people be purified and
zealous, till the manifestation of his glory. That was in a succinct way my
24
„Epître a Tite‟ from „La Vie de l‟Eglise‟ from Le Film du Nouveau Testament, available
from:<http://www.regard.eu.org/Livres.12/Fil_du_NT/12htm> accessed 26.6.‟07.

8
intention of the future Church, of Christianity as I envisaged it. But there
is something else, my son, the Church‟s work.And that brings us to
chapter three.The life of a Christian is centred in reviewing past sins that
surely are forgiven by God‟s grace, and the repentant is saved and may
inherit eternal life. Therefore one had to avoid vain discussions and
practice good works.”
“Good works? Ha, ha!But you very rarely stress good works. Your
gospel was always based on sola fide, master Paul.”
“That I always took forgranted. How could you have faith if you
don‟t practice good works? I always mentioned faith, because I wanted to
stress the division between faith in Christ as a new revival and the old
light of the Law that, although it remained holy, but Christ had surpassed
it. That‟s all. Perhaps not everyone understood me in this. But believe me,
I never ever thought of distinguishing between faith and good works or I
ever wanted to discredit good works. Remember, Paul is Paul. That light
made my mind as clear as a glass. Remember that.”

6. Conclusion
“I think it‟s time to leave each other. One last word from you, please,
master Paul, and with which I have to conclude my artricle which I have
to hand to my superior to-morrow morning. Go straight to the point, in a
few words.”
“After all that…what should I add? Perhaps that the leaders of your
Church, in these present turbulent times, should read well my letter to
Titus. You are in need of such teachings. Don‟t‟ leave out the other two
of the so called „Pastorals‟ for even they have something to add.
Although I can‟t leave out either all my letters, where every Christian, all
the Church in general, or better all the churches, since today one can‟t
speak of one Church, at least it seems to me from what I hear from the
beyond.A final word, my boy, study well my letters. Sic itur ad astra.”25

My newspaper editor accepted this interview as I handed it to him

for inclusion in to-morrow‟s edition. By the way, he wanted to include
even the foot-notes, which I wrote only to prove and give more weight to
some truths enunciated in the article.
He astonishingly exclaimed:”An interview with Paul? My! That‟s great!”

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Bibliography
Cothenet, Edouard, La lecture liturgique des Epîtres Pastorales, from „Esprit et Vie‟,
available from: <http://www.esprit-et-vie.com/breve.php3?id_breve=27> .

25
Its in this way that one soars to the stars(or to heaven).

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Epître a Tite‟ from „La Vie de l‟Eglise‟ from Le Film du Nouveau Testament,
available from:<http://www.regard.eu.org/Livres.12/Fil_du_NT/12htm> .
Loisy, Alfred Firman, The Birth of the Christian Religion, from the La Naissance du
Christianisme, 1933, Engl. Ed. trans. By L.P. Jacks, 1962, Publ. New Hyde, NY by
University Books,Inc., pp. 325-360.
Tite‟, Introduction, available from
<http://www.sobicain.org/introduccionesFra.asp?T=69> .
Wikipedia under: „Apostle Paul‟.

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