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Titus (Companion of St Paul though)

a companion of St. Paul, though not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. He seems to have been converted by the apostle (Tit. i: 4), probably at Antioch A. D. 50 or 51, and in the same year accompanied him to Jerusalem, and was present at that first council which recognized Gentile converts as part of the Church, and exempted them from the burden of the Mosaic ritual (cf. Acts xv. 1-35 with Gal. ii: 1-3).

Paul soon afterward practically carried out the liberty thus accorded by refusing to require Titus, who by birth was a Greek, to be circumcised (Gal. ii: 3-5).

Titus was subsequently with Paul at Ephesus (A. D. 56), whence the former was sent on a special mission to the Corinthians, perhaps carrying with him Paul's second epistle to that Church (II Cor. viii: 6, 22, 23, xii: 18). When Titus returned (A. D. 57) he found the apostle in Macedonia (II Cor. vii: 5-6, 13-15).

Subsequently (probably A. D. 65 or 66) he was left in Crete to arrange the affairs of the Church and "ordain elders in every city" (Tit. i: 5). Returning thence to Rome he was dispatched by Paul (A. D. 66 or 67) to Dalmatia (II Tim. iv: 10).

According to tradition Titus returned to his work in Crete, and died a natural death at an advanced age, The Epistle of Paul to Titus, the third of St. Paul's pastoral epistles. It was written to give Titus directions respecting the organization of the Cretan Church. There is a considerable resemblance between some passages in Titus and others in the Epistles to Timothy.

The external evidence in favor of the epistle to Titus is somewhat stronger than for those to Timothy. The three together are called the pastoral epistles.