Titus 2:1–3—Sound Doctrine; Older Men and Women

Those who teach wrongly, the Apostle said above (Tit.1, 11), teach “what is not proper”; but you, he says, addressing Titus, teach “what is proper” (Tit.2, 1). He then at once indicates what exactly is fitting to say to each person. He does not cover everything, but takes into consideration only: a) elderly men and elderly women (Tit.2, 2–3), b) young women and young men (Tit.2, 4–6), d) servants (Tit.2, 9–10), and: f) civic virtues (Tit.3, 1–2). Between these instructions he inserts: c) a reminder that the teacher should himself set an example in all things (Tit.2, 7–8), and should impress upon those being taught that: e) the entire economy of salvation in Christ Jesus was precisely so that believers, having renounced ungodliness and worldly lusts, might live soberly, righteously, and godly, being zealous for good works in the blessed hope (Tit.2, 11–15); g) likewise that the grace of the Holy Spirit was given precisely to transform us from what is evil to what is good (Tit.3, 3–7); and: h) he concludes: teach this, and avoid foolish contentions, and drive heretics away (Tit.3, 8–11). — The Apostle repeats three times: teach people to do good (Tit.2, 1, 15; Tit. 3, 8); three times he urges that no one should have grounds to say anything reproachful either about our teaching or about us (Tit.2, 5, 10, 15). By this he defines the subject and aim of the Epistle. One may therefore suppose that the Cretans, having received the faith, did not care to live according to it, but lived according to their former customs—the Jews by Jewish customs, the Gentiles by pagan ones—spending their time meanwhile in the indulgence of superstitious fables and in empty and unprofitable disputes. It is toward the correction of these faults that the Apostle chiefly directs the labors of holy Titus, and after him the bishops, whose appointment city by city he regards as the surest means of achieving this aim. Such is the substance of the entire Epistle.

Tit.2:1. But you speak the things that are fitting for sound doctrine.

“Do not let those who teach the contrary unsettle you; continue, as is your custom, to impart divine instruction” (blessed Theodoret). “Do not fall silent on account of this; even if they do not receive instruction, you do your duty; even if they are not persuaded, continue to exhort and advise” (St. Chrysostom).

Yet it seems the Apostle by this wishes to show where the work of teaching should be directed. Babbling talkers spread fables; but you, having silenced them and sternly rebuked your own flock, should thereafter not get drawn into disputes, but turn all your attention to imparting sound doctrine: “speak the things that are fitting for sound doctrine”—what is in keeping with sound doctrine, what sound doctrine requires, or—what the substance of sound doctrine is. Sound doctrine is not only that which imparts true knowledge of God (Ambrosiaster) and of our relationship to Him—and above all of the reconciliation with Him of those who have fallen—but also that which is not content to remain mere naked teaching, but at the same time demands a life congruent with the teaching, and lays greater weight on the correction of morals, keeping clear of all unprofitable disputes and controversies. You, he says, expound more upon how to live well: “that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works” (Tit.3, 8). So what does this good life and good character of believers consist in?

a) What constitutes good character in elderly men and elderly women?

Tit.2:2. That elderly men be sober-minded, reverent, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, in patience.

The “elderly man” here is not a presbyter but one advanced in years. Such a man advanced in years ought first to be “sober-minded.” Sobriety, or watchfulness, is an attentiveness of the mind—acquired through labor and experience—to what is taking place inwardly, and to how affairs are proceeding outwardly, both held before the face of God; an attentiveness accompanied by vigilance and unrelaxing tension of one’s powers, in readiness for every duty. Just as a pilot on a ship keeps sharp watch both ahead and to the sides in order to steer the vessel rightly, so too the sober-minded person is keen-sighted toward everything within and without, in order to direct his spiritual life rightly. Sobriety is not established all at once, but through long labor, and only after the passions have subsided. Since in elderly men many passions subside naturally, the natural order of things requires that they be sober-minded. However, this is not always the case; it does not come about when the preceding life has not been ordered rightly. Therefore in this commandment to elderly men there lies hidden a commandment also to men in their prime—to practice sobriety, so that in old age this virtue may be an inalienable quality. The opposite of sobriety is inattentiveness to oneself and one’s affairs, scattered thoughts, sloth, and negligence. Blessed Theodoret writes: sobriety requires—“always to be watchful and sober-minded, and to possess the prudence fitting one’s age.” St. Chrysostom says: “old age has its deficiencies as well; laziness, forgetfulness, dullness, and sluggishness are natural to it. Therefore the Apostle enjoins that ‘elderly men be sober-minded.’ For at this age much disposes a person not to be sober, and above all what I have mentioned—the blunting of all the senses, sluggishness, and lack of agility.” But whoever attends to himself can always be sober-minded, that is, “alert and ready for every duty” (blessed Theophylact).

Secondly—“to be reverent”—“and outwardly seemly as well” (blessed Theodoret). Sobriety determines the inward disposition of the elderly man, while reverence determines his outward conduct. He is to carry himself in such a way as to move all to treat him with respect. This enjoins composure, restraint, and a certain gravity in bearing, speech, and all one’s actions.

Thirdly—“to be self-controlled.” St. Chrysostom says: “by the self-controlled he means here the prudent. For self-control here signifies a sound state of the mind.” So too Oecumenius and Theophylact. And the wise Sirach writes: “how beautiful is sound judgment in the gray-haired, and for the aged to possess counsel! How beautiful is wisdom in the elderly, and understanding and counsel in those who are honored!” (Sir. 25, 6–7). But others understand self-control here as purity from carnal sins and lustfulness. Jerome writes: “the Apostle enjoins self-control upon elderly men, so that they may not give themselves over to carnal lust in an age which is naturally foreign to it, and so that, with blood cooled for such things, they may not set a scandalous example for the young.” The same thought may be found in blessed Theodoret, who interprets the word “self-controlled” as “attentive to a good life.” It is not foreign, one may suppose, to St. Chrysostom either; for having said what was cited above, he adds: “there are, indeed there are, even among the elderly, men of unbridled passion.” Although Oecumenius says: “one cannot suppose that St. Paul requires of elderly men continence from carnal lust, when this is already naturally presupposed in them”; by this he only expresses how unfitting lust is for old age, not that it does not overpower even the old. And the Wise One says that his soul finds abominable the life of “a lustful old man who diminishes in understanding” (Sir. 25, 3–4). It turns out, then, that there are indeed lustful old men. Lust deprives them of their reason and carries them away in its wake. It is therefore no wonder that St. Paul had this in mind as well when enjoining that elderly men be exhorted to be self-controlled.

These three—self-control, reverence, and sobriety—encompass life in all its possible dimensions, that is, in relation to oneself, to other people, and to God; for sobriety cannot be established otherwise than when the mind is fused with the thought of God. From this it is clear that the Apostle wishes elderly men to present an exemplary life in every respect. These three embrace all degrees of a life pleasing to God—the spiritual, the psychic, and the bodily. By sobriety the spirit is brought into close communion with God; but the spirit, having thus been set in its proper order, does not deny the psychic and bodily life, but rather enlivens them. The enlivening of the soul is manifested in reverence, in which righteousness and love are united; and the enlivening of the body—in self-control, which encompasses both full detachment from all that is sensory and complete purity from the passions.

“Sound in faith, in love, in patience”—“so that they may both believe sincerely and be distinguished by love toward their neighbor, and bear with courage what they suffer from the hostile enemies of the truth” (blessed Theodoret). Sound faith does not merely hold to right confession, but above all holds God as faithful in the depths of the soul and purposes always and in all things to present itself as faithful to Him. Love, feeling within itself God’s fatherly love toward it, burns with its own love toward Him, embracing therewith all who bear the image of God. Patience—the fruit of faith and love, watered by hope and ripening under hope’s action, or in its atmosphere, and still more truly in its hothouse—sustains and bears both the labor of faith and the toil of love; and above all it cheerfully endures everything encountered on their account—all that is burdensome, straitened, sorrowful, bringing calamity, suffering, and death. These three are the summit of perfection in the life according to God, in Christ Jesus, by the grace of the Holy Spirit—a perfection with which who more naturally is adorned than elderly men?

Blessed Jerome, when commenting on this passage, deemed it not superfluous to speak at length about these virtues. “Those who attain soundness of faith will hear from the Saviour: ‘your faith has saved you’ (Mk. 10, 52)—or as in another place: ‘I have not found such great faith even in Israel’ (Mt. 8, 10). For such soundness of faith they will become sons of Abraham, of whom it is written: ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’ (Gen. 15, 6). And Habakkuk, speaking of this sound faith, says: ‘the righteous shall live by faith’ (Hab. 2, 4). Read through the Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews and enumerate the whole catalogue of sons of faith placed there. It is written there: ‘by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain’ (Heb. 11, 4); ‘by faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death’ (Heb.11,5); and Noah, ‘warned of things not yet seen,’ believing God, ‘prepared an ark,’ and Abraham ‘went out, not knowing where he was going’ (Heb. 11, 7–8). And lest it be supposed that Holy Scripture gives no examples of faith among women, it is written in that Epistle that Sarah ‘received strength to conceive seed, and bore a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised’ (Heb. 11, 11). The faith of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and others is praised there, and you will know them better by reading the Epistle itself. But as there is a soundness of faith, so there is a soundness in love as well. Who possesses the soundness of love if not one who loves God with all his soul, all his heart, and all his strength? Then, hearing the commandment of Christ, he will also turn love toward his neighbor; for on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Whoever has sound love does not envy, does not boast, does not behave indecently or dishonorably, is not provoked to anger, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things (1 Cor. 13,4–7). Since love never fails, one who abides in sound love never fails himself. Neither tribulation, nor distress, nor famine, nor persecution, nor nakedness, nor peril can separate him from the sound love he has in Christ Jesus. But why do I speak of the sword and other lesser things that cannot separate one who possesses sound love, when neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate one who has sound love in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8, 35–39)? Having thus understood what sound love is, let us take from Scripture an example of those in whom love is not sound. The Saviour says of the last times: ‘because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold’ (Mt. 24, 12). Love is warm in those who are fervent in spirit; but in those who have fallen under the influence of the harsh winds blowing from the north, it is cold as ice. ‘Out of the north calamity shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land’ (Jer. 1, 14). By this coldness of love Amnon was once benumbed toward his sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13). We must be on guard lest a similar sickness of love sometime overpower us as well. For it happens that our love for a young woman or some other woman is holy at first; but then, when the soul grows soft and enervated by passion, our sound love little by little begins to wither and passes into a sickness, and in the end brings one to the very brink of ruin. That is why the Apostle strictly charges Timothy to impress upon the young that they guard themselves in purity in every way (1 Tim. 5). Complete purity is in spirit, soul, and flesh: that the eye not be ensnared by fastening on the beauty of a woman’s face, that the ear not take pleasure in hearing flattering words, and that the mind, once strong, not be enfeebled by such allurements. Let young men and old men therefore be on guard, and young women and old women alike, and with all diligence let them keep their heart, lest, instead of soundness of love, a sickness of love enter in, and instead of holy love there creep in an unholy love that casts into gehenna. — Whoever is sound in faith and sound in love is sound also in patience—in the patience that is tried above all in temptations, of which it is said that one who ‘endures to the end will be saved’ (Mt. 24, 13)”.

Tit.2:3–4. Older women likewise in demeanor holy, not slanderers, not enslaved to much wine, teachers of good, that they may train the young women.

By “older women” also the Apostle means women advanced in years, as blessed Theodoret writes: “by older women the Apostle named those advanced in age, not those invested with some ministry in the Church—not deaconesses.” All our commentators understand it the same way; only Oecumenius sees deaconesses here. Theophylact evidently had him in mind when, after saying that the Apostle here speaks of women advanced in years, he added: “Some, however, think that the reference here is to deaconesses.” — Blessed Jerome writes: “although the Apostle Peter enjoins that husbands give honor to their wives ‘as to the weaker vessel’ (1 Pet. 3, 7), one must not, however, suppose that a woman, having a weak bodily vessel, is thereby weak in soul as well. That is why in the present passage it is prescribed to them that in them also should be fulfilled what the Apostle said: ‘power… is perfected in weakness’ (2 Cor. 12, 9): for it is said that they too should have everything commanded to the elderly men; in the following words: ‘older women likewise’—that is, that they too, just as the elderly men, should be in all things reverent, sober-minded, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in patience, and moreover, in keeping with their sex, should conduct themselves in holy bearing, or, as is better said in Greek: εν καταστηματι (in bearing, in deportment) ιεροπρεπεις — so that their very gait and movement, their gaze and speech, should convey a certain sacred dignity.”

And indeed, “in demeanor” does not encompass everything that is contained in the Greek word εν καταστηματι. This word, as blessed Jerome indicates, encompasses everything external: bearing, gait, gaze, speech, and movement—in general, one’s outward manner of holding oneself, which includes clothing as well. Teach, he says, that in all of this they be holy in bearing. St. Chrysostom says that older women “should show modesty by their very outward appearance and dress.” And blessed Theodoret writes that they are here enjoined “the seemliness of composed conduct.” Sacred seemliness does not indicate an ecclesiastical order for older women, but a quality of their outward bearing—that is, that they should carry themselves as though they were in church, or like those who serve in the church: modestly and reverently, so as to spread reverence and composure to those around them as well.

“Not slanderers”—teach older women also to be thus, μη διαβολους — so that they are free from gossip, slander, tale-bearing, and all manner of evil speech, all of which are part of the devil’s work, an instrument of mutual discord, strife, and quarreling, and not infrequently a cause of calamity for those denounced. Blessed Jerome writes: “since this class of women is ordinarily talkative, according to the word of the same Apostle: ‘they learn to be idle, going about from house to house; and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not’ (1 Tim. 5, 13), he also desires here that they be non-slanderous, that is, non-censorious, not such as would, to please some, slander others, or who, having passed the age of youth themselves, might speak and judge of young women in this manner: that one dresses in such a way, another walks in such a way, yet another associates with such and such people—loves this person, is loved by that one; whereas—even if there were something blameworthy in all of this—they ought not so much to condemn before others, as to correct in private, in the spirit of Christ’s love—to teach rather that they not do it, than to publicly condemn what has been done.”

“Not enslaved to much wine.” He does not forbid the use of wine, but guards against its abuse—against drinking much and becoming addicted to wine. Using wine in old age is, as it were, required by nature, to maintain energy and aid the processes of nourishment. But excessive use neither helps the one nor the other, but harms them; and one who has become addicted to this quickly ruins himself entirely, both in body and in soul. For wine inflames lust and causes even old men to behave more disgracefully in this regard than the young. St. Chrysostom says: “this failing (wine-drinking) is natural to old age: for with advancing years the body cools, and from this arises a strong inclination toward wine. The Apostle therefore warns them against this especially, seeking by every means to eradicate drunkenness and wishing that they be free from this disease and avoid the disgrace that comes from it. With the passage of time, vapors rise more easily from below to above and the membranes of the brain are weakened by age; this is especially why the tendency toward wine-drinking arises. It is true that this age (old age) stands especially in need of wine—for it is weak—but not in large quantities; just as young women also need it, not for the same reason, but because the fire of their desires is strongly kindled.” Let us continue this instruction with the words of blessed Jerome: “excessive use of wine is forbidden to older women, because intemperance produces in the old the same effect that lust produces in the young. How then will an older woman teach young women chastity, if a young woman who begins to imitate an older woman in wine-drinking can scarcely preserve herself in purity?”

“Teachers of good”—so that both by example and by word they teach every good thing. Experienced old age, by the natural order of things, is a guide for youth. But just as in practical affairs only those who have been engaged in them and have acted in them with understanding can guide the younger generation, so much more in the religious-moral order only those who have themselves passed through it zealously and with understanding can instruct in this kind of life. For this reason the Apostle assigned this task to old age after adorning it with many good qualities. And indeed, if older women possess all that has been indicated up to this point, they will naturally prove to be teachers of good—by their example alone, even if words should be lacking, though words cannot really be lacking, because guidance in this manner of life requires no great eloquence. Experienced old age, even in simple conversation and without special effort, teaches much. And youth desiring to learn attaches itself naturally to it and listens attentively. Blessed Jerome writes: “after having taught what older women ought to be like, he now permits them to take up the reins of teaching as well, so that, having become exactly such, they may have the boldness and confidence to teach other women, younger ones, every good thing.” St. Chrysostom raises an objection: “how is it that you here permit women to teach, while elsewhere you say: ‘I do not permit a woman to teach’ (1 Tim. 2, 12)?” And he answers: “but listen to what he added there: ‘nor to have authority over a man.’ Men are given by God to teach both men and women; but women he permits to offer admonitions at home, but by no means to preside (in the church) or to hold forth at length.” “There he speaks of public teaching in the church, which is not permitted to women; here he speaks of domestic teaching, and that only of younger women, as the following words show” (blessed Theophylact).

“That they may train the young women. — Train”—not merely teach them to be chaste—there is a separate word about that below—but to impart wisdom to them, σωφρονιζωσιν,—to impart to them the wisdom of Christian life. “Do you see how he reconciles and unites people, how he subordinates the younger to the older? For he does not speak of daughters, but of the young in general. Let each older woman, he says, instruct a younger one” (St. Chrysostom). Here is the Apostolic indication that pastors can and should establish among the flock a mutual instruction, and especially with regard to women: for it is not always convenient to hold conversations with women, and especially with young ones.