Titus 1:10–13—Silencing the False Teachers

There are two rules here: to “stop the mouths” (Tit. 1:11) of those who spread such ideas, and to “rebuke sharply” (Tit. 1:13) those who are carried away by them. These rules are given almost in passing. Having said that one chosen for bishop must be able to refute those who contradict, the Apostle shows how very necessary such bishops are, since there are many vain talkers in Crete who are dangerous to leave unrefuted and with their mouths unstopped. But to do this successfully, one must be capable and skilled at it. Hence his instruction to Titus: seek out such men especially for the episcopate. Now, while the time comes for capable bishops to be selected and for them to begin their opposition, this matter cannot be left to go on as it is going. And it is entrusted to Titus himself. Having been commanded to appoint presbyters “in every city,” holy Titus had to make the rounds of these cities. In doing so he was bound to encounter persons of that sort. The Apostle addresses him on this occasion: stop their mouths. By stopping their mouths and making a beginning of opposition to evil teachings, holy Titus was at the same time giving an example of how to deal with them to the newly appointed bishops, upon whom the task of refuting those who contradict was also to devolve. Furthermore, since such adversaries were already at work, there naturally were some who had been drawn in by them. Titus might encounter such persons as well. For this case holy Paul writes to him: rebuke them sharply. And in this too there is an example of how the newly appointed bishops should act. So this section (verses 10–16) provides instruction both for holy Titus and for those chosen as bishops.

Tit. 1:10. For there are many who are insubordinate, vain talkers, and deceivers of minds, especially those of the circumcision.

He says: it is especially necessary to choose persons capable of teaching, because in Crete there are many vain talkers whom it is dangerous to leave unrefuted and with their mouths unstopped. And to do this successfully, one must be capable and skilled. Hence my instruction to you: seek out such men especially for the episcopate.

What sort of persons these are, precisely, against whom holy Titus and, in his person, the future bishops are being armed—holy Paul defines by the following marks.

“Insubordinate,” ανυποτακτοι — those who walk without order, who want to know nothing of any rules, self-willed and self-directed. In planting the faith, the planters of the faith at the same time established every kind of order in the spirit of that faith. It was laid down how to judge and think about all things, how to live and act, and above all how to draw near to God through prayers and sacramental acts. The insubordinate regarded none of this as binding upon themselves, but judged, acted, and urged others to think and act as seemed right and fitting to themselves. These are people who do not wish to hold to the common teaching, but set themselves apart and draw others away. “Do you see how the Apostle shows the source of such people? It comes from the desire not to submit, but to dominate; this is what he points out” (holy Chrysostom). “He indicated the root of all evils—insubordination. The insubordinate person, insofar as he does not wish to stand under authority but rushes to exercise authority over others, has evidently learned nothing sound and right; because he was not willing to endure being under instruction. This is why he is also a vain talker” (blessed Theophylact).

“Vain talkers,” ματαιολογοι — idle talkers, those who speak to the wind, merely to show that they too are clever people who understand the essence of the matter no worse than others, and even better than the teachers themselves—people who know how to form their own views and by them to illuminate, expand, and deepen the common faith, without concern for where such views may lead, whether they shake and undermine the faith received by all. There are multitudes of such people in every age. They know the matter of faith only superficially; for deep study of it is hindered by their weakness—the forging of their own views, which, being born before the knowledge of truth, stand in the way of truth before their eyes. Hence it happens that in their speeches these self-generated and for the most part immature views always go to the fore: there are many words, but the substance of the matter is empty. And the result is idle talk—vain talking. “A teacher who, because of his insubordination to those who teach, has not himself learned as he ought, naturally becomes a vain talker—and not only a vain talker, but one who is deceived in his mind” (Oecumenius).

“Deceived in mind” (φρεναπαται — mentally deluded, “deceiving both themselves and others” (blessed Theophylact))—and, we may add, by their own clever reasoning. Having been swept up in their own views, they are captivated by them as if they were true, and are zealous to share them with others as though they were lofty and profound truths, the very foundations of all knowledge, without which all understanding would crumble. Such self-generated views, even when they happen to agree with truth, add nothing to it in clarity or firmness; but, by occupying attention in place of the truth itself, they thereby divert from right contemplation, which, by the very nature of faith, ought to reign in the mind: time is wasted to no purpose and the taste for firm truth is corrupted. But when such views are far from the truth, there is already outright delusion leading to ruin. One who is carried away by them is like one who accepts another gospel; and upon him, without any formal judgment, falls nonetheless the terrible judgment of the Apostle: “let him be anathema” (Gal. 1:8).

In setting out all these characteristics, the Apostle does not say what the insubordinate ones are babbling about, or what deludes them and what they use to delude others. To St. Titus and all the believers in Crete this was clearly known. We are left only to conjecture. But instead of any conjecture, is it not better to confine ourselves to the lesson that the Apostle—while designating specific persons of that time who are, for us, not easily identifiable—has nonetheless sent us a definite lesson: to avoid ourselves, and to turn others away from, the alluring impulse to construct one’s own views on matters of faith not in a spirit of submission to the rules of faith, but in a spirit of domination over them, as though those rules were beneath us and our own minds. Against this disease of the mind the Apostle warns us.

The words “especially those of the circumcision” hint somewhat at what the insubordinate ones were babbling about; yet very inconclusively. For “especially” shows that these were not exclusively Jews, but that there were such persons also from among the Gentiles. Consequently, one cannot assert with certainty that those babbling were the usual Judaizing opinions about the indispensable necessity for believers to observe both the Law of Moses and the ordinances of their elders. If, moreover, we have no basis for supposing that those of the circumcision were babbling one thing and those of the uncircumcision another—for in that case the Apostle would not have placed them on the same level—then we must acknowledge that both groups held to a certain teaching which cannot be called either exclusively Jewish or exclusively pagan, but which was a mixture of both. In what precisely it consisted is not visible; but it was of such a character that its tenets could be discussed among Christians without immediately repelling them—which gave the teachers entry into the homes of believers. Consequently, besides its Jewish and pagan elements, it contained something Christian as well. Sheltering behind the side that appeared Christian, they penetrated into homes, and then filled the ears and minds of their hearers with what was Jewish and pagan among them. The poison of falsehood worked destructively—and the Apostle cuts short an evil that had, in all likelihood, already been experienced by many.

Tit. 1:11. Whose mouths must be stopped: who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of sordid gain.

Upon whom does this “must” fall? Upon those who were to be appointed as bishops. The Apostle said above (verse 9) that these bishops must hold firmly to sound teaching and be capable of confirming their own people in the truth and of refuting those who oppose it. Why is this especially necessary? Because there are many vain talkers who do not submit to the truth, and whose mouths must be stopped. To be capable of doing this, one must oneself be firm in the truth and know how to expose falsehood and refute it in those who babble. St. Chrysostom says: “If such a man, having taken upon himself the duties of teaching, proves incapable of struggling with shameless people and stopping their mouths, he will be guilty for the destruction of each one who perishes. Therefore, if the Wise Man commands: ‘do not seek to be made a judge, if you are not able to remove iniquity’ (Sir. 7:6); then all the more may one say here: do not aspire to become a teacher if you lack the capacity for this work, but step aside even if you are urged to come forward.”

It is, however, evident in itself that St. Titus as well, when encountering such persons, could not and ought not to have remained silent. So the word “must” may be understood as applying generally to anyone upon whom rests the duty of spreading the truth and confirming others in it.

“To stop their mouths”—one may do so either by the force of pastoral authority or by the force of refuting falsehood and affirming truth. The first is applicable in the present case if we acknowledge that the opposing babblers belonged to the community of believers, but were acting within it of their own accord. This is for a first instance; but if they remain in their stubbornness, they must be cut off entirely, as the Apostle ordained below (Tit. 3:10). Yet the second method is more broadly applicable, because it fits all cases. On encountering babblers, whoever they may be, one must expose the falseness of their teaching so forcefully that they have nothing to say in its defense. “Well did the Apostle say: ‘stop their mouths’—that is, by the force of refuting falsehood, to bring them to the point where they dare not utter a single word—and to do so that the hearers may benefit from it” (Oecumenius). “What profit is there (from stopping their mouths), when they are among those who do not submit to the truth? None for them; but it is profitable for those who might be corrupted if the bishop passes over their false speech and teaching in silence” (blessed Theophylact).

But one can stop mouths only when meeting babblers face to face. If that does not happen, but it is known only that certain people are going about houses babbling this or that, which could corrupt others, even in that case this matter must not be left unattended. One must, before the faithful, expose the falseness of the discovered lie and refute it; and the truth of God, which is contrary to the falsehood being spread, must be set forth more fully and affirmed more firmly. This too will be a stopping—if not of the mouths of the babblers, then of the entrance of their falsehood into the souls of the hearers: for there will already have been planted within them a “counter-answer” to their lies—the thought of one who knows the “sure word” and is strong enough to repel the false word that assaults their ears.

“Who subvert whole houses.” The suggestion is given that they do not preach openly, but go about houses by stealth. Such a manner of acting befits a falsehood that is conscious of itself as falsehood, and by that very fact betrays that it is indeed a lie. — “Teaching what is not fitting.” What exactly? It would be curious to know; but since the Apostle had no intention of satisfying idle curiosity or vain inquisitiveness, he did not say. He also gives us a lesson—not to inquire idly. The norm of truth is known; it is simple and not complex. The Cretan Christians knew it. And that was what ought to be taught. Everything discordant with it is what ought not to be taught—and what, therefore, those who are taught and who know the truth ought not to hear. In these few words the Apostle said everything.

“For the sake of sordid gain.” “You see that insubordination is bound up with love of money and greedy acquisition. All these are levers in the hands of the devil, by which he destroys the houses of God (that is, Christian families)” (blessed Theophylact). “Is there any lawless act to which this passion has not persuaded and inclined people?” (Oecumenius). — What kind of gain is meant? The ordinary, material kind—the receiving of money, goods, and food. They are zealous to acquire disciples so as to live at their expense and be well provided for. But St. Hilary and blessed Jerome, beyond this, consider it possible to understand by “gain” the disciples themselves, who are drawn in by the teaching of the babblers, following the words of the Savior: “you cross sea and land to make a single proselyte” (Mt. 23:15). “One may,” writes blessed Jerome, “interpret these words ‘for the sake of sordid gain’ differently—namely, that the Apostle used this common turn of everyday speech to show how heretics, corrupting minds, customarily call themselves gainers of souls, though to kill the souls of the deluded is not gain but loss. On the contrary, whoever, according to the Gospel, reproves an erring brother so that he turns back, truly gains him (Mt. 18:15). For what gain can be greater, or what more precious, than gaining a human soul? Therefore, every teacher of the Church who draws people to faith in Christ by the right path is an honorable gainer; on the contrary, every heretic who, by seductive speech, turns people from the truth and induces them to follow his unbecoming teaching, is a sordid gainer.” — Such a thought is not in the Apostle; but it may be admitted as a secondary inference or an allegorical interpretation of his words—which, taken outside the context, is permissible.

Tit. 1:12. One of them, a prophet of their own, said: Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle gluttons.

He reinforces the stated reason for choosing bishops who are firm in truth and capable of refuting falsehood, by pointing out that Cretans by their natural character are prone to falsehood and therefore themselves offer a hand to the babblers to delude them and lead them into error. By this the Apostle shifts the attention of St. Titus and the future bishops from the babblers to the Cretans themselves, saying in effect: it is not enough to stop the mouths of the babblers; one must persuade the Cretans themselves to hold firmly to the truth and not open their ear to every fabulist who turns them from the truth. And this will be, as has been noted, a stopping of the advance of the spreaders of falsehood. Such is the meaning of verses 12–14.

To confirm that Cretans are prone to falsehood, fables, and babbling, the Apostle could have cited actual experience. But he thought it better to bring the testimony of a poet—and a Cretan at that—so that no one might say: you spent a few days on the island and already think you know our character. The Apostle answers such objectors in advance: it is not only I who think this; here is one of your very own, your own poet, who noted this of you long, long ago. Moreover, by taking such ancient testimony, the Apostle gives us to understand that the unfavorable trait he points out in the Cretans is not fleeting or accidental, but an ingrained vice which, the harder it is to uproot, the more obligatory it is for those appointed to correct everything bad among them to direct their attention, care, and labor to this side.

The Apostle called the poet a “prophet” not because he truly regarded him as a prophet, but because pagans so thought of poets and trusted their word as if it were a revelation from above. All pagan beliefs rested on poets. — The words cited by the Apostle were spoken by Epimenides (St. Chrysostom, blessed Jerome), and the same were later repeated by Callimachus (blessed Theodoret). In Callimachus only the first word stands: “liars.” The whole verse, as the Apostle cites it, is found in Epimenides (blessed Jerome). The Cretans were so called because when someone persuaded them that Zeus (or Dias) had died among them and pointed out the place, they readily believed it, built a tomb, and kept telling everyone: here among us is the tomb of Zeus. By this they revealed their credulity and their susceptibility to falsehood and fables, which they never ceased thereafter to hold, remaining thus always liars—that is, never ceasing to repeat falsehood. It is precisely this trait of theirs that the Apostle sets forth, in order then to say: rebuke them, so that they may not heed fables.

For the Apostle’s purpose, only the first word was needed: “liars.” The remaining words were cited only because they form part of a verse that the Apostle knew (blessed Jerome). There is therefore no need to construct conjectures about what the Apostle had in mind when he cited of the Cretans the words “evil beasts, idle gluttons.” The first phrase denotes wildness, unbridledness, and evil character; the second—that they are fond of eating and drinking but reluctant to work, lovers of idleness and sloth. It may be, however, that such traits did indeed belong to the character of the Cretans, and that the Apostle intentionally retained these words of the verse—not limiting himself to the first word—so as to give lessons concerning them as well later on, as may be inferred from what the Apostle commands to teach in chapter two. But in the present passage, what the Apostle needed was only the first word: “liars”—as the flow of the argument requires.

Tit. 1:13. This testimony is true; for this reason rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.

In saying that this testimony is true, the Apostle had in mind the first word of the testimony: “liars”—meaning by this that they are ready to open their ears to all manner of idle chatter and every kind of fable, as is clear from the words that follow: rebuke them, so that they may not heed fables. “If they are prone to falsehood, then a strong and reproving word is needed for them; such a person cannot be moved by gentleness. Therefore, ‘rebuke them unsparingly.’ For it is not right to treat all people in the same manner, but differently and variously according to their persons. For just as one may destroy and ruin an obedient and noble man by rebuking him, so one may corrupt a man who needs a strong rebuke and fail to bring him to correction by treating him with flattery” (St. Chrysostom). “This: ‘rebuke them unsparingly’—does not contradict what was said: ‘with gentleness correcting those who oppose’ (2 Tim. 2:25); because to those who have not yet believed, the divine teaching ought to be proclaimed modestly and gently; but those who have pledged to believe and who attempt to act contrary to the faith must be healed with severe remedies” (blessed Theodoret).

“That they may be sound in the faith.” “Here the Apostle speaks not of outsiders, but of his own people” (St. Chrysostom). To outsiders—the harmful babblers—he commanded their mouths to be stopped; but his own he commands to rebuke unsparingly—“to strike deep” (St. Chrysostom). And this is not to satisfy one’s displeasure with them, but so that they may be sound in the faith—that is, so that they may not receive false views incompatible with the faith (St. Chrysostom). Soundness in faith consists in holding precisely to what has been transmitted. The body becomes unsound when it receives elements foreign to it; and faith becomes unsound when it receives thoughts that destroy its order—whether wholly or in part. One who accepts such thoughts with the conviction that they are true, when they are not, damages the true faith and becomes unsound in it. For he does not keep the “pattern of sound words”—handed down by the Apostles (2 Tim. 1:13); and he is found unfaithful to the “sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the teaching that accords with godliness,” from which he “falls sick” (1 Tim. 6:3–4). So that the Cretans might not fall into such sickness, the Apostle commands that they be rebuked unsparingly whenever it is noticed that they are carelessly opening their ear to the babblers.