2 Peter

Composition

The Second Letter of Peter (2 Peter), also known as the Book of Second Peter or the Second Epistle of Peter, has historically been attributed to Peter, the disciple of Jesus Christ. Peter is a major, well-developed figure in the New Testament of the Christian Bible who left behind his life as a fisherman to become a leading member of Christ’s inner circle of apostles. After Christ was crucified, Peter assumed leadership of Christ’s nascent ministry and is now recognized as the saintly first pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

By and large, conservative ecclesiastical officials continue to accept Peter as the author of both 2 Peter and its companion book, the First Letter of Peter (“1 Peter”). However, 2 Peter has long been the subject of an authorship controversy that is arguably more complex and divisive than the similar questions raised about the origins of 1 Peter. Perspectives on the authorship of 2 Peter broadly align into two opposing spheres: a critical group of historical and literary commentators who characterize the letter as a work of pseudepigraphy, and traditionalists who credit Peter as 1 Peter’s genuine author or at least allow that an educated scribe or secretary personally known to Peter may have given the letter its written form.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, pseudepigraphy refers to the convention of assigning credit for written works of scripture to high-profile community leaders and spiritual figures, sometimes many years after their deaths. Pseudepigraphy played a particularly influential role in the shaping of the Christian canon, which was a major task of early ecclesiastical authorities. A final, official collection of canonical and apocryphal New Testament works was not settled for several centuries. During this early stage of Christian history, the authenticity of 2 Peter as a genuine work of the New Testament figure of the same name was heavily debated but ultimately accepted. However, most modern analysts of 2 Peter approaching the text from critical, historical, or literary perspectives characterize it as a pseudepigraphic work.

The ongoing debate also extends to the relationship between 1 Peter and 2 Peter. Both works have traditionally been attributed to Peter the apostle and early church leader, but they display some sharp stylistic differences that lead some experts to believe they do not have a common author. Similar divergences extend to the certain aspects of the spiritual doctrines and themes of the two epistles, with some observers believing these variances strengthen the case for 2 Peter’s pseudepigraphic authorship. However, other experts believe these inconsistencies are overstated and point out the many stylistic similarities between 1 and 2 Peter in suggesting the letters were written by the same hand.

Summary

The Second Letter of Peter is divided into three chapters containing a combined total of sixty-one verses. It ranks among the shortest canonical books of the New Testament.

Conventional perspectives on the composition of 2 Peter hold that it was written shortly after 1 Peter, which is traditionally dated to about 60–65 CE. Unlike 1 Peter, 2 Peter does not begin with an address to a specific group of readers. The First Letter of Peter was dedicated to early Christians facing oppression and persecution for their then-unorthodox religious beliefs. Commentators often describe 2 Peter as being directed to the same group of people despite the absence of any explicit introductory reference. However, a later passage states: “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you” (2 Peter 3:1). This suggests that the Second Letter of Peter continues from the first, and that its intended readership was the same community of early Christians facing tyranny across Asia Minor.

The main narrative focus of 2 Peter aims to address the heresy and activities of false prophets within early Christian communities. Religious historians note that the embryonic years of the Christian church were rife with claims of Christ’s impending second coming, which were spread by well-meaning but misguided believers as well as nefarious actors with dishonest agendas. Various early Christian sects, which were mainly arranged in small pockets across wide geographic areas, also struggled with infighting and disagreement on the tenets of the emerging faith. In some cases, internal dissent extended even to foundational beliefs and teachings. Resolving these disagreements eventually proved to require the intervention of ecclesiastical authorities, who convened over a period of centuries to establish an officially endorsed canon of textual scripture. In a sense, the Second Letter of Peter foreshadows the eventual need for this process.

In its first chapter, 2 Peter reminds readers of the promises made by Christ and the tools that Christ introduced for leading productive spiritual lives and avoiding debasement. Peter positions himself as an authority in this regard, as he was a firsthand witness of Christ’s inspirational ministry. In the letter’s first chapter, Peter also appears to acknowledge the personal mortal danger he faces as a result of his devotion to Christ: “I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance” (2 Peter 1:13–15).

The second chapter of 2 Peter warns specifically of the dangers posed by false prophets and the heresies they teach. It urges readers to remain vigilant for false prophets, to reject their corrupt promises, and to remember that God will ultimately reward the faithful and punish evildoers. The letter’s concluding chapter strives to clarify misunderstandings regarding the return of Christ, as nonbelievers routinely mocked Christians for maintaining faith in a second coming that had not yet happened. It states that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” (2 Peter 3:10) while reminding readers to “be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise” (2 Peter 3:8–9).

Themes

Biblical commentators have identified a tendency within the group of scriptural writings known as the Catholic Letters, in which various major figures in the early Christian church address the needs and struggles of their followers across a series of epistles. The New Testament of the Christian Bible contains seven Catholic Letters, which include second letters by multiple authors including Peter and his fellow apostle, Paul. In several cases, second letters go into detail about the world’s last days, documenting the sharp spiritual decline that will define the pre-apocalyptic period. This theme is prominent in 2 Peter, especially in its third and final chapter.

The Second Letter of Peter also continues some of the ideas and themes that shaped its companion book, 1 Peter. For instance, both letters strive to equip readers with the practical insights they need to conduct themselves given the knowledge that God will eventually judge each of them by their actions. Both 1 and 2 Peter encourage readers to aspire to reflect the holiness of God as displayed by the deeds of Jesus Christ. Another continued theme is the idea that Christ will return, and that his eventual return is the source of every Christian’s great hope. In 1 Peter, this hope was characterized to navigate the difficulties of religious persecution, but in 2 Peter, it evolves toward the general idea that God will one day reward faithful believers and punish unfaithful nonbelievers.

Knowledge represents another central theme of 2 Peter, with some English translations of the New Testament rendering the word “knowledge” fifteen times within the short three-chapter, sixty-one-verse composition. The letter establishes the crucial importance of genuine knowledge of God’s laws and Christ’s teachings, hinting at the standardization efforts that would soon define the early history of the Roman Catholic Church and help the emerging faith spread and become dominant. Religious historians note that the beliefs of early Christians were routinely misunderstood by outsiders, which partially resulted from dissension within individual Christian sects and the general nonconformity of their beliefs. Both 1 and 2 Peter can be viewed as important commentaries on the accompanying problems and early markers of subsequent efforts to solve them.

Other key ideas in 2 Peter stress that some self-professed Christians are actually nonbelievers who functionally reject the values and principles endorsed by Christ in scripture. This reflects the tumultuous air of nonconformity that afflicted the Christian church in its fragile foundational years. The Second Letter of Peter also roots nonbelief in God in rationalism and materialism, noting the tendency among human beings to orient their value systems toward earthly pursuits and deny the reality or existence of anything not immediately apparent to them in routine, everyday life. Contemporary commentators often latch onto this theme of 2 Peter, using it as an instructive illustration of how certain fundamental aspects of the human experience have changed very little over the centuries.

Bibliography

Berardi, Roberta, Martina Filosa, and Davide Massimo. Defining Authorship, Debating Authenticity: Problems of Authority from Classical Antiquity to the Renaissance. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2020, pp. 235–257.

Callan, Terrance (ed.). A Voyage Around the Second Letter of Peter: Collected Essays. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2020.

Guirguis, Youssry. “Major Themes in 1 and 2 Peter.” Spectrum Magazine, 22 June 2017, spectrummagazine.org/article/2017/06/22/major-themes-1-and-2-peter. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.

Lockett, Darian. The Catholic Epistles: Critical Readings. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021, pp. 99–165.

Piper, John. “Who Wrote 2 Peter? An Article for Eggheads.” Desiring God, 27 Apr. 1982, www.desiringgod.org/articles/who-wrote-2-peter. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.

Swindoll, Chuck. “Second Peter.” Insight for Living Ministries, 2022, insight.org/resources/bible/the-general-epistles/second-peter. Accessed 26 Apr. 2022.