This volume argues that Titusâs invocation of Crete affected the ways early readers developed their identities. Using archaeological data, classical writings, and early Christian documents, he describes multiple traditions that circulated on Crete and throughout the Roman Empire concerning Cretan Zeus, Cretan social structure, and Cretan Judaism. He then uses these traditions to interpret Titus and explain how the letter would intersect with and affect readersâ identities. Because readers had differing conceptions of Crete based on their location and access to and evaluation of Cretan traditions, readers would have developed their identities in multiple, conflictual, even contradictory ways.
Michael Scott Robertson, Ph.D. (2021), Liverpool Hope University, is junior fellow at the Beyond Canon Collaborative Research Group at Universität Regensburg.
2 Zeus
â1âPre-Roman Crete and Zeus
â2âRome, Crete, and the Development of the Zeus Myth
â3âConclusion
3 Cretan Society
â1âPre-Roman Period
â2âSociety in Roman Crete
â3âConclusion
4 Cretan Judaism
â1âCrete and Judaism
â2âJewish-Cretan Connection Myth
â3âJudaism and Zeus
â4âSummary
5 No Cretans Allowed?
â1âThe Not-Lying God and His Associates
â2âOne of Us?
â3âGroup Organization
â4âConclusion
6 Our Great God and Savior: A New Foundation Myth
â1âEpiphanies from God
â2âReception of Titus 2:13
â3âA Unique People and Foundation Myths
â4âCounter-Memories
â5âConclusion