Second Epistle of Peter
The
Second Epistle of Peter is traditionally ascribed to
Saint Peter, but in modern times widely regarded as
pseudonymous.
According to the epistle itself, it was written by the
apostle Peter, an eyewitness to Jesus' ministry. He
criticizes "false teachers" who distort the authentic,
apostolic tradition, and predicts judgment for them. He
explains that God has delayed the Second Coming so that
more people will have the chance to reject evil and find
salvation. He calls on Christians to wait patiently for
the parousia and to study scripture. The dating of this
epistle has proved very difficult. Commentaries and
reference books have placed 2 Peter in almost every
decade from 60 to 160 AD. The letter opens by identifying
the author as “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of
Jesus Christ” (2Peter 1:1). Elsewhere, the author
clearly presents himself as the Apostle Peter, stating
that the Lord revealed to him the approach of his own
death (2Peter 1:14), that he was an eyewitness of the
Transfiguration (2Peter 1:16-18), that he had previously
written another epistle to the same audience (2Peter
3:1; cf. 1 Peter), and he called Paul the Apostle “our
beloved brother” (2Peter 3:15).
Although 2 Peter internally purports to be a work of the
apostle, most biblical scholars have concluded that
Peter is not the author, and instead consider the
epistle pseudepigraphical. Reasons for this include its
linguistic differences from 1 Peter, its apparent use of
Jude, possible allusions to second-century gnosticism,
encouragement in the wake of a delayed parousia, and
weak external support. In addition, specific passages
offer further clues in support of pseudepigraphy, namely
the author's assumption that his audience is familiar
with multiple Pauline epistles (2Peter 3:15-16), his
implication that the Apostlic generation has passed
(2Peter 3:4), and his differentiation between himself
and "the apostles of the Lord and Savior" (2Peter 3:2).
This epistle presciently declares that it is written
shortly before the apostle's death (1:14). Arguments
have been made both for and against this being part of
the original text, but this debate largely is centered on
the acceptance or rejection of supernatural intervention
in the life of the writer. The epistle contains eleven
references to the Old Testament. In 3:15, 16 a reference
is made to one of Paul's epistles, which some have
identified as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11. The book also
shares a number of shared passages with the Epistle of
Jude, e.g. 1:5 with Jude 3; 1:12 with Jude 5; 3:2f with
Jude 17f; 3:14 with Jude 24; and 3:18 with Jude 25.
Tartarus is mentioned in 2:4 as devoted to the holding
of certain fallen angels. It is elaborated on in Jude 6.
Jude 6 however, is a clear reference to the Book of
Enoch.
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