christology, greco-roman religious piety 241
Paul’s Jewish and greco-roman contemporaries.99 the recipients’ greco-
roman religious milieu explains the emphasis on εὐσέβεια. it was a part of
the religious piety of the day. eὐσέβεια denoted a reverent and wondering
awe at the lofty and pure world of the divine, its worship in the cultus,
and respect for the orders sustained by it.100
a letter written to a church located in the city that was temple-warden
of the imperial cult well explains the titles “Christ Jesus our lord” and
“god/Christ our savior.” it was ephesus who declared Julius Caesar “com-
mon savior of human life” and “the god made manifest” (SIG 347, 760).
over against these declarations, Christ makes his first ἐπιφάνεια on the
stage of human history as τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ. this ἐπιφάνεια
was redemptive. the creedal statements highlight this fact: “Χριστὸς
Ἰησοῦς ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἁμαρτωλοὺς σῶσαι (1 tim 1:15) and ὁ δοὺς ἑαυτὸν
ἀντίλυτρον ὑπὲρ πάντων (2 tim 2:6). like the emperors, he is ἄνθρωπος
Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς. unlike the emperors, he is god-incarnate. the Christology
of the creedal statements assumes a pre-incarnate deified existence. “he
came into the world” (1 tim 1:15); “he appeared in flesh” (1 tim 3:16). it is,
therefore, not such a stretch to understand tit 2:13 to be attributable solely
to Christ: καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν τῆς δόξης τοῦ μεγάλου θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ
Χριστοῦ. indeed, it is the incarnation that qualifies him and him alone as
the sole mediator between god and humanity (εἷς καὶ μεσίτης θεοῦ καὶ
ἀνθρώπων). the plural ἀνθρώπων marks this mediation as universal. the
emperors are “manifested” as victorious and proclaimed triumphant over
the nations. unlike the emperors, Christ is proclaimed triumphant by all
nations: ἐκηρύχθη ἐν ἔθνεσιν, ἐπιστεύθη ἐν κόσμῳ (1 tim 3:16). Whatever else
τὸ τῆς εὐσεβείας μυστήριον· ὃς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί means, Christ as a model
of piety is not it. the language of the hymn is that of an imperial triumph.
it was the practice of the emperors to publish their exploits and achieve-
ments. for example, augustus states, “twice i triumphed with an ova-
tion.. .” (The Acts of Augustus 1.4). although the incarnation is presented
as an act of humility in Phil 2:5–7, it is not so here. the incarnation is
described in striking epiphany language. his “epiphany” (τῆς ἐπιφανείας)
is not as a lowly servant but as τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ (2 tim
1:10). his stage appearance ὃς ἐφανερώθη ἐν σαρκί results in death’s destruc-
tion and brings to light life and immortality” (2 tim 1:10). Contrary to the
99 Νηφάλιος is found in Jewish contemporaries Philo (Sobr. 2, Mos. 1.187) and Josephus
(Ant. 3.279) as well as in moralists such as Plutarch (SIG 1040.26). the verb νήφω is found
elsewhere in Paul of soberness and moderation (1 thess 5:6, 8).
100 gerhard Kittel, TDNT, 7:178.