2 Peter
Introduction
This
letter can be appreciated both for its positive teachings and for its earnest
warnings. It seeks to strengthen readers in faith (2 Peter 1:1),
hope for the future (2 Peter 3:1-10),
knowledge (2
Peter 1:2, 6,
8), love (2 Peter 1:7),
and other virtues (2 Peter 1:5-6).
This aim is carried out especially by warning against false teachers, the
condemnation of whom occupies the long central section of the letter (2 Peter 2:1-22).
A particular crisis is the claim by "scoffers" that there will be no
second coming of Jesus, a doctrine that the author vigorously affirms (2 Peter 3:1-10).
The concept of God's "promises" is particularly precious in the
theology of 2 Peter (2 Peter 1:4; 3:4, 9, 13). Closing
comments at 2
Peter 3:17-18 well sum up the twin concerns: that you not "be led
into" error and "fall" but instead "grow in grace" and
"knowledge" of Jesus Christ.
Second Peter is clearly
structured in its presentation of these points. It reminds its readers of the
divine authenticity of Christ's teaching (2 Peter 1:3-4),
continues with reflections on Christian conduct (2 Peter 1:5-15),
then returns to the exalted dignity of Jesus by incorporating into the text the
apostolic witness to his transfiguration (2 Peter 1:16-18).
It takes up the question of the interpretation of scripture by pointing out
that it is possible to misunderstand the sacred writings (2 Peter 1:19-21)
and that divine punishment will overtake false teachers (2 Peter 2:1-22).
It proclaims that the parousia is the teaching of the Lord and of the apostles
and is therefore an eventual certainty (2 Peter 3:1-13).
At the same time, it warns that the meaning of Paul's writings on this question
should not be distorted (2 Peter 3:14-18).
In both content and style
this letter is very different from 1 Peter, which immediately precedes it in
the canon. The opening verse attributes it to "Symeon Peter, a slave and
apostle of Jesus Christ." Moreover, the author in 2pe 3:1 calls his
work a "second letter," referring probably to 1 Peter as his first,
and in 2 Peter
1:18 counts himself among those present at the transfiguration of Jesus.
Nevertheless, acceptance of 2
Peter into the New Testament canon met with great resistance in the early
church. The oldest certain reference to it comes from Origen in the early third
century. While he himself accepted both Petrine letters as canonical, he
testifies that others rejected 2 Peter. As late as the fifth century some local
churches still excluded it from the canon, but eventually it was universally
adopted. The principal reason for the long delay was the persistent doubt that
the letter stemmed from the apostle Peter.
Among modern scholars there
is wide agreement that 2 Peter is a pseudonymous work, i.e., one written by a
later author who attributed it to Peter according to a literary convention
popular at the time. It gives the impression of being more remote in time from
the apostolic period than 1 Peter; indeed, many think it is the latest work in
the New Testament and assign it to the first or even the second quarter of the
second century.
The principal reasons for
this view are the following. The author refers to the apostles and "our
ancestors" as belonging to a previous generation, now dead (2 Peter 3:2-4).
A collection of Paul's letters exists and appears to be well known, but
disputes have arisen about the interpretation of them (2 Peter 3:14-16).
The passage about false teachers (2 Peter 2:1-18)
contains a number of literary contacts with Jude 1:4-16, and it
is generally agreed that 2 Peter depends upon Jude, not vice versa. Finally,
the principal problem exercising the author is the false teaching of
"scoffers" who have concluded from the delay of the parousia that the
Lord is not going to return. This could scarcely have been an issue during the
lifetime of Simon Peter.
The Christians to whom the
letter is addressed are not identified, though it may be the intent of 2 Peter 3:1 to
identify them with the churches of Asia Minor to which 1 Peter was sent. Except
for the epistolary greeting in 2 Peter 1:1-2:2 Peter does
not have the features of a genuine letter at all, but is rather a general
exhortation cast in the form of a letter. The author must have been a Jewish
Christian of the dispersion for, while his Jewish heritage is evident in
various features of his thought and style, he writes in the rather stilted
literary Greek of the Hellenistic period. He appeals to tradition against the
twin threat of doctrinal error and moral laxity, which appear to reflect an
early stage of what later developed into full-blown gnosticism. Thus he forms a
link between the apostolic period and the church of subsequent ages.
The principal divisions of
the Second Letter of Peter are the following:
I.
Address
(2 Peter 1:1-2)
II.
Exhortation
to Christian Virtue (2 Peter 1:3-21)
III.
Condemnation
of the False Teachers (2 Peter 2:1-22)
IV.
The
Delay of the Second Coming (2 Peter 3:1-16)
V.
Final
Exhortation and Doxology (2 Peter 3:17-18)
Table of Contents 
1 Peter: Chapter 5
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2
Peter Introduction Ends.
Easter
Sunday 12 April 2009.