AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF SECOND PETER

Although the author of this letter asserts that he is the Apostle Peter (2Pet.1v1), no book of the New Testament had a more difficult time establishing its authenticity, apostolicity, and its deserved place in the canon (the universally-recognized list of inspired, holy books) as 2 Peter. This was due in part to the fact that 2 Peter was not widely known very early, and, so many people in the second and third centuries A.D. were falsely writing under the name Peter. Nevertheless, the traditional view has remained--that the Apostle Peter was indeed the author.

There is a literary relationship between Second Peter and Jude, because the material in 2Pet.2v1-3v3 is very similar to the text in Jd.3-18, in both order and content. The specific application of the two letters, however, is slightly different. Second Peter was occasioned by the presence of a group of false teachers who were about to cause serious problems for his readers. In 2Pet.2 we learn of their licentious life style and in 2Pet.3 of their skepticism about whether Christ would return . This prompted Peter to provide one of the fullest discussions about the end of the world in the whole Bible. The seeming delay of Jesus' return is only apparent, because God lives outside the dimension of time. One day, the "Day of the Lord" WILL occur, and it WILL be accompanied by the total destruction of this physical universe. In the meantime, the readers were warned to be careful, lest they be infected by the false teachers' life style and teachings.

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