Epistula Titi, discipuli Pauli, de dispositione sanctimonii
Other titles: Epistle of Titus, Pseudo-Titus Epistle
Standard abbreviation: (Apocr.) Ep. Titus
Clavis number: ECCA 334; CANT 307
Category: Epistles
Related literature: Acts of Andrew, Acts of John, Acts of Nereus and Achilleus, Acts of Paul and Thecla, Act of Peter
Compiled by: Brandon W. Hawk, Rhode Island College ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Hawk, Brandon W. “Apocryphal Epistle of Titus.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/epistle-of-pseudo-titus/.
Created August 2018. Current as of April 2023.
1. Summary
The Latin Apocryphal Epistle of Pseudo-Titus is stylized as a letter from Paul’s disciple Titus, written to a community of ascetic men and women about the virtues of chastity and the vices of sex. The core concern is that these Christians have faltered in their vows of celibacy and become engaged in practices like “spiritual marriage” and relationships within their community. Throughout the letter, the author alludes to and quotes many passages from the Bible and other apocrypha. In particular, the examples of various figures used in the letter derive from the Acts of Andrew, John, Paul and Thecla, and a story preserved in the Coptic Act of Peter and the Acts of Nereus and Achilleus.
The letter begins with a discussion of the promises that the Lord gives to those who adhere to holiness and purity. Next, the letter addresses women as virgins, the rewards for those who remain pure, and the punishments for those who do not. The letter then shifts to address both men and women briefly before turning back to women in a series of metaphors for the body based on holy buildings, and then to men to offer a warning about the dangers of desire, the problems of lust in the heart as adultery, and presents a series of examples of holy men from the Hebrew Bible, and the solution to temptations of the body through solitary asceticism. These exhortations are followed by relating the consequences of the men’s behavior for the entire community, an apocalyptic vision of eschatological punishments for those who do not remain pure, a return to asceticism as the solution, and a series of negative examples from the Hebrew Bible. With a more general address, the text again relates the communal consequences of unchaste behavior before turning to a conclusion about the heavenly rewards for those who remain chaste.
Named historical figures and characters: Abishag, Abraham (patriarch), Adonijah, Andrew (apostle), Antichrist, Baruch, daughter of Jephthah, Daniel (prophet), David (king), Dyrus, Elijah (prophet), Elisha (prophet), Enoch (patriarch), Ezekiel (prophet), Gehazi, Haggai (prophet), Isaac (patriarch), Jacob (patriarch), Jeremiah (prophet), Jesus Christ, John (son of Zebedee), Mary Magdalene, Moses (patriarch), Nebuchadnezzar, Noah (patriarch), Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Pharaoh (of Exodus), Susanna, Thecla, Titus, Zechariah (prophet).
Geographical locations: Gehenna, Gomorrah, Jabesh-Gilead, Jerusalem, Samaria, Sodom.
2. Resources
2.1 Websites
“Epistle of Pseudo-Titus.” Wikipedia.
“Pseudo-Titus-Brief.” DeWiki.
3. Bibliography
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Latin
Würzburg, Universitätsbibliothek, M.p.th.f. 28, fols. 84r–93v (8th cent., Bavaria?), the so-called Homiliary of Burchard
Donatien de Bruyne, D. “Epistula Titi, discipuli Pauli, de dispositione sanctimonii.” RBén 37 (1925): 47–72 (Editio princeps, 48–64).
Bulhart, Vincenz. “Nochmals Textkritisches.” RBén 62 (1952): 297–99 (suggested corrections to the Latin text).
Hamman, Adalbert-G. “Epistula in Tit de Dispositione Sanctimonii.” Migne, PL, Suppl. 2.4, cols. 1522–42 (reprinted from de Bruyne’s edition).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
See the English translation of the German by de Santos Otero (below).
Elliott, J. K. The Apocryphal New Testament: A Collection of Apocryphal Christian Literature in an English Translation. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993 (summary, pp. 532–33).
3.2.2 French
Jean-François Cottier, “Épître du Pseudo-Tite.” Pages 1133–71 in volume 2 of Écrits apocryphes chrétiens. Edited by Pierre Geoltrain and Jean-Daniel Kaestli. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade 516. Paris: Gallimard, 2005.
3.2.3 German
Otero, Aurelio de Santos. “Der Pseudo-Titus-Brief.” Pages 50–70 in Neutestamentliche Apokryphen in deutscher Übersetzung, Bd. 2. Apostolisches, Apokalypsen und Verwandtes. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1989. English translation: “The Pseudo-Titus Epistle” Pages 53–74 in The New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 2, Writings Related to the Apostles, Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McL. Wilson. Rev. ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.
3.2.4 Italian
Erbetta, Mario. Gli Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. Vol. 3. Turin: Marietti, 1981 (pp. 93–110).
Moraldi, Luigi. Apocrifi del Nuovo Testamento. Vol. 2. Turin: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 1971 (pp. 1757–88).
3.3 General Works
Bucher, Debra Jean. “Ascetic Cohabitation and Authoritative Scriptures in the Epistula Titi discipuli Pauli.” Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 2008.
De Bruyne, Donatien. “Nouveaux fragments des Actes de Pierre, de Paul, de Jean, d’Andre, et de l’Apocalypse d’Elie.” RBén 25 (1908): 149–60.
Gasparro, Giulia Sfameni. “L’Epistula Titi discipuli Pauli de dispositione sanctimonii e la tradizione dell’enkrateia.” Pages 4551–664 in Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, II: Prinzipat, 25.6. Edited by Wolfgang Haase. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1988.
Harnack, Adolf von. “Der apokryphe Brief des Paulusschülers Titus ‘de dispositione sanctimonii.’” Sitzungsberichte der königlichen preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 17 (1925): 180–214.
Hawk, Brandon W. Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England. Toronto Anglo-Saxon Series 30. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018 (pp. 42–43, 45, 49, 52, and 68).
Hen, Yitzhak. “The Content and Aims of the So-Called Homiliary of Burchard of Würzburg.” Pages 127–52 in Sermo doctorum: Compilers, Preachers and Their Audiences in the Early Middle Ages. Edited by Maximilian Diesenberger, Yitzhak Hen, and Marianne Pollheimer. SERMO 9. Turnhout: Brepols, 2013.
Horn, Cornelia. “Suffering Children, Parental Authority and the Quest for Liberation? A Tale of Three Girls in the Acts of Paul (and Thecla), the Act(s) of Peter, the Acts of Nereus and Achilleus and the Epistle of Pseudo-Titus.” Pages 118–45 in A Feminist Companion to the New Testament Apocrypha. Edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Maria Mayo Robbins. New York: T&T Clark International, 2006.
James, M. R. The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1920 (pp. 55–56).
Koch, Hugo. “Zu Ps.-Titus, De dispositione sanctimonii.” ZNW 32 (1933): 131–44.
Lapidge, Michael. The Anglo-Saxon Library. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006 (p. 162, no. 69).
Morin, Germain. “L’homéliaire de Burchard de Würzburg: Contribution à la critique de saint Césaire d’Arles.” RBén 13 (1896): 97–111.
Otero, Aurelio de Santos. “Der apokryphe Titusbrief.” ZKG 74 (1963): 1–14.
Schmidt, Carl. “Studien zu den alten Petrusakten.” ZKG 43 (1924): 321–48 (pp. 334–40).
Van de Sandt, Huub, and David Flusser. The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity. Jewish Traditions in Early Christian Literature 5. Assen: Royal Van Gorcum, 2002 (pp. 83–84).