“I will always be ready to remind you of these things”

Jump to beginning of 2 Peter Discussion Group Blog

Introductions usually come at the beginning.  We started the study of 2 Peter after considering several directions for our group, so the introduction was skipped in favor of getting right into the Scriptural text.  This brief essay will cover some basic introductory matters.

Who?

For most Christians, the fact that the letter begins with “Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ…” is all the evidence needed.  Peter, the fisherman, one of the first disciples, wrote the letter that follows.  That settles it.

It is helpful, in this cynical age, at least to be aware of conflicting viewpoints.  Did some unknown writer many years later author the letter forging Peter’s name?  Should those kinds of suggestions shake our faith?  By no means!  Considering conflicting views and rational, thoughtful responses should strengthen our confidence in Scripture and in the God Who revealed that Scripture through His apostles.

Even scholars who affirm Peter’s genuine authorship acknowledge, “If one were inclined to doubt the authenticity of any letter in the NT, it would be 2 Peter.”[1]  The letter apparently was not as widely known in the first few hundred years in parts of the ancient church.[2] Plus the style of the Greek language[3] and the words used in the vocabulary[4] of the letter are noticeably different from 1 Peter (and there are no serious doubts about authenticity for 1 Peter).  Descriptions in 2 Peter about false teachers might apply to second-century Gnostics[5] who came on the scene long after Peter’s lifetime.  Are these circumstances enough to discredit the letter or to deny that Peter wrote it?

On the contrary,

The negative views of some relative to 2 Peter tell us more about those scholars than they tell us about 2 Peter.[6]

Instead of listening to such a “bias against tradition and orthodoxy,” consider simple responses to a few of the accusations against authorship by Peter.

• • Are there differences in language and wording? Yes, and

(a) there is nothing in the letter that Peter, after many years of ministry in the Greek world, could not have written;
(b) Peter may have deliberately chosen to write in this style because of the needs of his readers; and
(c) the more commonplace Greek of 1 Peter may be the result of the help of an amanuensis [a secretary or scribe – mw] (see 1 Peter 5:12).[7]

• • Were there questions in the ancient church about Peter’s authorship? Yes, and

While some Christians expressed doubts about 2 Peter, many others accepted the book from the beginning.  People probably had doubts because the book was not widely used and because there were so many Petrine forgeries about.[8]

The very fact that 2 Peter was accepted as a canonical book, then, presumes that the early Christians who made this decision were positive that Peter wrote it.[9]

• • Did the warnings about false teachers apply to heresies in later centuries? Yes, and

Nothing the false teachers were propagating is unknown in the first century church.[10]

While those few points are not the only objections raised against Peter’s authorship, neither have I listed all the responses.  The purpose of this brief discussion on “Who wrote the second letter of Peter?” is to encourage confidence in its genuineness.  Don’t be shaken by “hearsay impressions” that attempt to undermine the reliability and dependability of God’s Word.

One is not sacrificing one’s intellect in believing that 2 Peter is authentically Petrine.  Indeed, Petrine authorship is still the most credible position.[11]

(For further thoughts on Peter’s genuine authorship based on his eyewitness testimony of the transfiguration of Jesus, see 2 Peter 1:16-18 Transfiguration Eyewitness.)

When?

Obviously, questions about authorship, date, audience, etc., are all closely intertwined.  With Peter as the authentic author, dating his second letter becomes relatively straightforward.

If it was written by Simon Peter…, and if one accepts the tradition that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero, then the work must have been written by A.D. 68 (the death of Nero), and most probably between A.D. 64 (the great fire in Rome, which marked the start of Nero’s persecution of Christians) and A.D. 68.[12]

If the apostle Peter wrote 2 Peter, the letter must have been written before about A.D. 65, when reliable early tradition records Peter’s death as a martyr at the time of emperor Nero’s persecutions of Christians in Rome.[13]

To Whom?

Who is Peter’s audience?  One interpretation is that he is writing to the same broad geographical area as in his first letter: “To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1).  Since 2 Peter doesn’t include that kind of information in the opening, we might look later in the letter to a reference about “the second letter I am writing to you” (2 Peter 3:1).[14]

On the other hand, “Peter may just as well be referring to a letter we no longer have.”[15]  If that is the case, we know even less about the audience directly.  But the style and language of the letter (mentioned above related to authorship) could well fit an audience different from his first letter.  Some of the Greek or Hellenistic ideas in 2 Peter might mean that his readers

probably were not located in the eastern end of the Mediterranean (Syria, Palestine, and Babylon) nor were they predominantly Jewish (2 Peter expects them to be very familiar with Greco-Roman ideas, but it does not expect them to know a lot of Jewish literature). [16]

Our best approach, without definitive textual evidence, will be to learn what we can about the audience inductively from the text.

Why?

Although Peter didn’t describe the recipients of his second letter, he was very clear about his purpose for writing.  Near the beginning and near the end of his letter he states that intention.

Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.  I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder. (2 Peter 1:12-13a, emphasis added)

I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. (2 Peter 3:1b-2, emphasis added)

Especially as he anticipates his death (2 Peter 1:14-15) he wants to leave a legacy of strong faith.

His message, along with the related message in the letter of Jude, is simple.

The letters of 2 Peter and Jude warn us about any tendency to treat sin lightly, to suppose that an immoral lifestyle can be pursued without any penalty.[17]

The relevance of 2 Peter and of Jude for today should be clear.  In a culture that has rejected God in both belief and behavior, Christians, seekers, and unbelievers can be attracted to attitudes and actions that appear alluring.  “Going along to get along” is easier than standing against ungodliness in the workplace, the neighborhood, or even in the family.

Jude and Peter saw this in their day as well.

What Peter and Jude concentrate on, then is not what these people are teaching but the way they are living.  They are obviously concerned that these false “behaviorists” will draw other Christians into their own sinful and destructive lifestyles.[18]

By God’s grace, our continued study in 2 Peter will help us to recognize and respond to sin, both behavioral and relational, as Peter reminds us and stirs us up.

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[1] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, Christian Standard Commentary (Nashville:  Holman, 2020), 303.

[2] Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), 122.

[3] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, Christian Standard Commentary (Nashville:  Holman, 2020), 300.

[4] Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), 131.

[5] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, Christian Standard Commentary (Nashville:  Holman, 2020), 326.

[6] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, Christian Standard Commentary (Nashville:  Holman, 2020), 297.

[7] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 24.

[8] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 24.

[9] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 23.

[10] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 24.

[11] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, Christian Standard Commentary (Nashville:  Holman, 2020), 304.

[12] Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), 130.

[13] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 24.

[14] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude, Christian Standard Commentary (Nashville:  Holman, 2020), 325.

[15] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 25.

[16] Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006),133.

[17] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 21.

[18] Douglas J. Moo, 2 Peter, Jude: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Academic, 1996), 19 (original emphasis).