Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 68:4 (Dec 2025)
Article: Rival Saviors On Crete? Asklepios And The Letter To Titus
Author: Allan Chapple

JETS 68:4 (December 2025) p. 751

Rival Saviors On Crete? Asklepios And The Letter To Titus

Allan Chapple

Allan Chapple is an Honorary Research Fellow at Trinity Theological College, Perth, Western Australia. He may be contacted at [email protected]. The author is grateful for several acts of kindness by members of the editorial team.

Abstract: That the brief letter to Titus contains half of Paul’s uses of “savior” is explained as a response to the cult of Asklepios rather than to the imperial cult or the worship of Zeus. A discussion of Asklepios’s place in Cretan life leads to an examination of seven possible allusions in the letter to his reputation and activities. After responding to three significant challenges to this reading of the letter, we consider how the cult of Asklepios could have endangered Crete’s churches and then analyze the letter’s implicit guidance about countering this threat. The essay concludes by summarizing the argument and noting two implications of this study.

Key words: Titus, Crete, savior, salvation, Asklepios, healing, epiphany, purity, gospel

Why does the letter to Titus use σωτήρ, “savior,” six times?1 In a letter of 659 words, this is proportionally the highest use in the NT.2 It is also one quarter of the NT’s total of only 24 uses, and half of Paul’s total of 12.3 These relatively low numbers suggest that “those texts which did utilize the term might have had specific reasons for doing so.”4 If so, was there something about the situation on Crete that called for this emphasis? This essay argues that it was intended to counter Cretan devotion to Asklepios, the god of healing.

The argument has two parts, the first making the case for this proposal and the second testing its validity. We begin by considering how σωτήρ was used in Paul’s world (section I) and what we know about Asklepios in general and his place on Crete in particular (section II). We then examine seven features of the letter that are interpreted as allusions to the cult of Asklepios (section III). The second half of

JETS 68:4 (December 2025) p. 752

the essay tests the strength of this argument in two ways. The first involves responding to three significant challenges (section IV), while the second identifies how Asklepios could have endangered Crete’s churches (section V) and how the letter counters this threat (section VI). The essay concludes b...