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The Second Epistle of Peter, often referred to as Second Peter and written 2 Peter or in Roman numerals II Peter (especially in older references), is a book of theNew Testament of the Bible, written in the name of Saint Peter, although the vast majority of modern scholars regard it as pseudepigraphical.[1] It is the first New Testament book to treat other New Testament writings as scripture, 2 Peter was one of the last letters included in the New Testament canon and is part of the Antilegomena; it quotes from and adapts Jude extensively,[2] identifies Jesus with God, and addresses a threatening heresy which had arisen because the anticipated Second Coming of Christ had not yet occurred. Contents Composition Challenging authorship Canonical acceptance Content Audience Outline See also Notes References External links Online translations of the epistle Other
Composition
According to the Epistle itself, it was composed by the Apostle Peter, an eyewitness to Jesus' ministry. It criticizes "false teachers" who distort the authentic, apostolic tradition, and predicts judgment for them. 2 Peter explains that God has delayed the Second Coming of Christ so that more people will have the chance to reject evil and find salvation. It calls on Christians to wait patiently for the parousia and to study scripture. The date of composition has proven to be very difficult to determine. Commentaries and reference books have placed 2 Peter in almost every decade from 60 to 160AD.[3] Challenging authorship
Most biblical scholars have concluded Peter is not the author, and consider the epistle pseudepigraphical.[4][5] Reasons for this include its linguistic differences from 1 Peter, its apparent use of Jude, possible allusions to 2nd-century gnosticism, encouragement in the wake of a delayed parousia, and weak external support.[6] The questions of authorship and date are closely related. For Petrine authorship to be authentic, it must have been written prior to Peter's death in c 65–67AD. The letter refers to the Pauline epistles and so must post-date at least some of them, regardless of authorship, thus a date before 60 is not probable. Chester & Martin say scholars consider the epistle to be written between c 100–
150AD[7] and so contend that it is pseudepigraphical. For an argument for a late date see Harris.[8] For a 'middle date' see Bauckham who opts for a date between 80–90AD as most probable.[9] For an early date and (usually) for a defense of the Apostle Peter's authorship see Kruger,[10] Zahn,[11] Spitta,[12] Bigg,[13] and Green.[14] Jeremy Duff argues that the various strands of evidence "point towards the period 60–130 CE, with some reason to favour 80–90 CE."[15] Canonical acceptance
See also: Development of the New Testament canon Acceptance of the letter into the canon did not occur without some difficulty; however, "nowhere did doubts about the letter's authorship take the form of definitive rejection."[16] The earliest record of doubts concerning the authorship of the letter were recorded by Origen (c. 185 – 254), though Origen mentioned no explanation for the doubts, nor did he give any indication concerning the extent or location. Donald Guthrie suggests that, “It is fair to assume, therefore, that he saw no reason to treat these doubts as serious, and this would mean to imply that in his time the epistle was widely regarded as canonical.”[16] Origen, in another passage, has been interpreted as considering the letter to be Petrine in authorship.[17] Before Origen's time, the evidence is inconclusive;[18] there is a lack of definite early quotations from the letter in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, though possible use or influence has been located in the works of Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 211), Theophilius (d. c. 183),Aristides (d. c. 134), Polycarp (d. 155), and Justin (d. 165).[19] Eusebius (c. 275 – 339) professed his own doubts, see also Antilegomena, and is the earliest direct testimony of such, though he stated that the majority supported the text, and by the time of Jerome (c. 346–420) it had been mostly accepted as canonical.[20]
Content
In both content and style this letter is very different from 1 Peter.[21] 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 Thessalonians4:13–5:11. The book also shares a number of passages with the Epistle of Jude, 1:5 with Jude 3; 1:12 with Jude 5; 2:1 with Jude 4; 2:4 with Jude 6; 2:5 with Jude 5; 2:6 with Jude 7;2:10–11 with Jude 8–9; 2:12 with Jude 10; 2:13–17 with Jude 11–13; 2:18 with Jude 16; 3:2f with Jude 17f; 3:3 with Jude 18; 3:14 with Jude 24; and 3:18 with Jude 25. [22] Because the Epistle of Jude is much shorter than 2 Peter, and due to various stylistic details, the scholarly consensus is that Jude was the source for the similar passages of 2 Peter.[22][23] Tartarus is mentioned in 2 Pet 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. Bauckham suggests that 2 Peter 2:4 is partially dependent on Jude 6 but is independently drawing on paraenetic tradition that also lies behind Jude 5–7. The paraenetic traditions are in Sirach 16:7–10, Damascus Document 2:17–3:12, 3 Maccabees2:4–7, Testament of Naphtali 3:4–5 and Mishna Sanhedrin 10:3.[24]
Audience
The audience in this book are the churches in general. Outline
The letter is usually outlined as follows:[21] Address (2 Peter 1:1–2) Exhortation to Christian Virtue (2 Peter 1:3–21) Condemnation of the False Teachers (2 Peter 2:1–22) The Delay of the Second Coming (2 Peter 3:1–16) Final Exhortation and Doxology (2 Peter 3:17–18) See also
Textual variants in the Second Epistle of Peter Universal destination of goods
Notes
1. Jump up^ Wallace, Daniel Second Peter: Introduction, Argument, and Outline 2. Jump up^ Albert E. Barnett, The Interpreters' Bible, 1957, volume 12, p. 154 "The
incorporation of Jude as its seconed chapter" 3. Jump up^ Bauckham, RJ (1983), Word Bible Commentary, Vol.50, Jude-2 Peter,
Waco 4. Jump up^ Brown, Raymond E., Introduction to the New Testament, Anchor Bible,
1997, ISBN 0-385-24767-2. p. 767 "the pseudonymity of II Pet is more certain than that of any other NT work." 5. Jump up^ Erhman, Bart (2005). Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed
the Bible and Why. Harper Collins. p. 31 "Evidence comes in the final book of the New Testament to be written, 2 Peter, a book that most critical scholars believe was not actually written by Peter but by one of his followers, pseudonymously.". ISBN 978-0-06-182514-9. 6. Jump up^ Grant, Robert M. A Historical Introduction To The New Testament, chap.
14. 7. Jump up^ Chester, A & Martin, RP, (1994), The Theology of the letters of James,
Peter & Jude, CUP, p.144 8. Jump up^ Harris, Stephen L.. Understanding the Bible: a reader's introduction, 2nd
ed. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. p. 354 9. Jump up^ Bauckham, RJ (1983), World Bible Commentary, Vol. 50, Jude-2 Peter,
Waco, p.158 10.
Jump up^ Kruger, MJ, (1999) "The Authenticity of 2 Peter", Journal of the
Evangelical Theological Society 42.4, p.645-671 11.
Jump up^ e.g. S. T. Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament II p. 250
12.
Jump up^ F. Spitta, Der Zweite Brief des Petrus und der Brief des Judas (1885)
13.
Jump up^ C. Bigg, ‘The Epistles of St Peter and St Jude’, in International
Critical Commentary 14.
Jump up^ E. M. B. Green, 2 Peter Reconsidered (1961) and other works.
15.
Jump up^ Jeremy Duff. "2 Peter". Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University
Press. 2001. ^ Jump up to:a b Donald Guthrie, Introduction to the New Testament 4th ed. (Leicester: Apollos, 1990), p. 806. 17. Jump up^ M. R. James, ‘The Second Epistle General of St. Peter and the General 16.
Epistle of St. Jude’, in, Cambridge Greek Testament (1912), p. xix; cf. Origen, Homily in Josh. 7.1. 18.
Jump up^ Donald Guthrie, Introduction to the New Testament 4th ed. (Leicester:
Apollos, 1990), p. 807. 19.
Jump up^ C. Bigg, ‘The Epistle of St Peter and Jude’, in International Critical
Commentary (1901), pp. 202–205; R. E. Picirilli, ‘Allusions to 2 Peter in the Apostolic Fathers’, in Journal for the Study of the New Testament 33 (1988), pp. 57– 83; J. W. C. Wand, The General Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude (1934), p. 141. 20.
Jump up^ Donald Guthrie, Introduction to the New Testament 4th ed. (Leicester:
Apollos, 1990), pp. 808–809, though the exception of the Syrian canon is noted, with acceptance occurring sometime before 509; cf. Jerome, De Viris Illustribus chapter 1. ^ Jump up to:a b 2 Peter Introduction, New American Bible ^ Jump up to:a b T. Callan, "Use of the Letter of Jude by the Second Letter of Peter", Biblica 85 (2004), pp. 42–64. 23. Jump up^ The Westminster dictionary of New Testament and early Christian 21. 22.
literature, David Edward Aune, p. 256 24.
Jump up^ Christian-Jewish Relations Through the Centuries By Stanley E.
Porter, Brook W. R. Pearson
References
Adams, Thomas B. "A Commentary on the Second Epistle General of Second Peter" Soli Deo Gloria Ministries, 1990. ISBN 978-1-877611-24-7 Green, Michael. "The Second Epistle of Peter and The Epistle of Jude: An Introduciton and Commentary" Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007. ISBN 978-0-83082997-2 Leithart, Peter J. "The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter" Canon Press, 2004. ISBN 978-1-59128-026-2 Lillie, John. "Lectures on the First and Second Epistles of Peter" Klock & Klock Christian Pub, 1978. ISBN 978-0-86524-116-9 Seton, Bernard E. "Meet Pastor Peter: Studies in Peter's second epistle" Review and Herald Pub. Association, 1985. ISBN 978-0-8280-0290-5 External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article: 2 Peter
Online translations of the epistle
Book of 2 Peter (NLT) at BibleGateway.com Online Bible at GospelHall.org Other
Christian Classics Ethereal Library A sizeable article giving an overview of the problems with, and ultimately a defense of, the authenticity of 2 Peter "Epistles of Saint Peter". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Co.
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