TITUS, EPISTLE TO. The genuineness of this epistle is attested by a large body of evidence, and seems never to have been questioned except by the heretic Marcion, and that upon the most frivo lous grounds (Tertullian, Aa'v. Marcion. v. 21), until, in recent times, it was attacked by Eichhorn and De Wette. It is manifestly quoted by Cle ment of Rome (Ep. ad Cor. cap. 2) ; and it is re ferred to as the production of St. Paul by Irenus (iii. 3. sec. 4) ; as part of the divine word by Theo philus (Aa'. Antal. iii. sec. 14) ; as St. Paul's, by Clement of Alexandria (Strom. lib. p. 299, and in many other places) ; by Tertullian (De Proser. Her. c. 6) ; and by Origen, in many places (Lardner, Works, vol. ii. 8vo). The objections of the German critics are founded chiefly upon the difficulty of ascertaining the proper date of this epistle, and upon minute peculiarities in its style and sentiments. The latter class of objections is so much identical with those already considered in reference to the epistles to Timothy, that it is un necessary to enter upon any examination of them here ; in fact, none who have admitted the genuine ness of the one have questioned that of the other, and vice versa. To the former the best reply will be furnished by ascertaining, if possible, when and where the epistle was written ; but even should we fail in this, it would be strange were we to relin quish our conviction of the authenticity of an ancient writing, simply because, possessing very imperfect information as to many parts of the alleged author's history, we were unable to say with certainty when he was in circumstances to compose it.
It is evident from the epistle itself, that at the thne it was written the writer had recently visited Crete (ch. i. 5) ; that he was about to spend the winter in Nicopolis (ch. iii. 12) ; and that Apollos was about to visit Crete, on his way to some other place (ch. iii. 13). These points may serve, in some measure, if not as indices to the exact time when this epistle was written, at least as criteria by which to test the truth of any hypothesis that may be suggested on this subject.
We learn from the Acts of the Apostles that Paul visited Crete on his voyage to Rome (ch. xxvii. 7) ; but the shortness of' his visit at that time, the circumstances under which it was made, and the improbability of his expecting to spend the ensuing winter at Nicopolis, place it out of the question to suppose that it was to this visit he refers in this epistle. As this is, however, the only visit recorded by Luke, in rejecting it we are forced to suppose another visit, and to find some period in the apostle's life when it was probable that such a visit was paid.
It has been suggested by Hug that the period re ferred to in Acts xviii. 18, 19, admits of our placing this visit to Crete within it. The apostle, at that time, was on his joumey from Corinth to Palestine, but on some account or other landed at Ephesus. This leads to the suggestion that the apostle must either voluntarily have departed from the usual course in order to visit some place lying between Corinth and Ephesus ; or that he must have been driven by stress of weather from the course he meant to pursue. In either case the probability of his visiting Crete at that time is strong. We find, from the mention made by Paul in this epistle of Apollos, that he, on his way from Ephesus to Corinth (Acts xviii. 24 ; xix. was to touch at Crete ; which renders it not improbable that it was customary for ships sailing between these two ports to call at Crete by the way ; and Paul may have availed himself of this practice in order to visit Crete before going to Palestine. Or he may have sailed in a ship bound directly from Corinth to Palestine, and have been driven out of his course, shipwrecked on Crete, and obliged to sail tbence to Ephesus as his only remaining method of getting to his original destination—a supposition which will not appear very improbable when we remember that St. Paul must have suffered several shipwrecks of which Luke gives no account (2 Cor. xi. 25, 26); and that his getting to Ephesus on his way from Corinth to Palestine is a fact for which, in some way or other, we are bound to account.