2 Peter - Introduction

Introduction

A short while ago we did 1 Peter, so now it is the turn of 2 Peter. As always, anything I say is built upon the foundation of others. In particular I would like to reference Michael Green’s commentary:

Tyndale New Testament Commentary: 2 Peter and Jude - Michael Green, IVP, 1983

The summary of the background to the letter that follows has also drawn from my NIV Study Bible.

Both epistles were written by Peter, but needless to say there are those who cast doubt on the authorship of 2 Peter. So let’s start by looking at this issue.

What is the case for saying Peter wrote it? Well the wealth of internal evidence. Right at the outset the letter claims to be written by Simon Peter. The letter is written in a personal style. He claims to have witnessed the transfiguration (1:16-18). 1:14 could be taken as an allusion to Jesus’ words to Peter at the end of John’s gospel 21:18,19. In 3:1 it says that this is his second letter. He knows Paul (3:15). So the most obvious conclusion is that it was written by Peter!

So why the objections to Petrine authorship? One is the difference in style between this and 1 Peter. Against this can be said that there are also similarities. Moreover, the end of 1 Peter indicates that Silas may have been Peter’s “ghost-writer” for that letter, whereas there is no such indication for 2 Peter. Moreover, the subject matter is different from 1 Peter, so the tone will also be different to some extent. It should also be noted that no positive identification of the supposed author of the letter can be made by the doubters. Therefore we will assume that the letter was indeed written by Peter.

It did take some time before it was finally accepted into the canon. Of the twenty seven books in the New Testament about twenty two of them were widely accepted very early in the church’s life, the other five waited until about 300 AD before they were finally accepted. However, it may have been used by the church as early as the late 1st century.

The letter was written in the latter stages of Peter’s life. So the letter was probably written AD 65-68, Peter is believed to have been martyred by Nero in AD 68.

Peter’s first letter was primarily concerned with coping with persecution of the church. In this letter the focus is much more on dealing with false teachers, and with having a correct view of the last day, the return of Christ. One of the false teachings that is dealt with Gnosticism, or at least an incipient form of it. Another feature of the letter is that about fifteen verses of the book of Jude also occur in 2 Peter.Interestingly none of the references to apocryphal literature found in Jude occur in this letter. There is debate over which came first, or if they were using a common source.