WHILE WE WAIT - 2 Peter 1:1-2, 12-15 | Cam Stephens

But before we dig in to Peter's sequel and decide if it's a good one or not, There are a few comments to make by way of introduction.

If you were to do some contextual study about the book of 2 Peter, you would likely come across some scholarship suggesting that 2 Peter was not written by its stated author, Peter.

And the reasons cited for this hypothesis usually include the fact that some of the language it used is different than the first letter, They would point out the noticeable grammatical differences between first and second Peter and the seeming inconsistency of thought between these two letters and They have a point There is a noticeable difference, which is really obvious in the Greek, in the way that these two letters are written.

However, I believe, along with many other scholars and the majority of the history of the church, that these differences have reasonable explanations and the authorship of Peter ought not to be contested.

I believe that there are a few really good reasons why Peter's words are different in the sequel than they were in his first letter.

FIRST, IT IS LIKELY THAT SIMPLY PETER'S SCRIBE HAS CHANGED.

In the scriptures, Peter always uses a scribe to write for him.

In his first letter, Peter stated explicitly that it was penned through the secretary Silvanus, or as we know him from the book of Acts, Silas.

1 Peter 5.12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you.

And if you were around a few years ago, when we studied the Gospel of Mark, you may recall that Peter had recounted his journey with Christ through the secretary, John Mark.

And so we know that whatever Peter wrote was done through the hand and the pen of a scribe.

And if the scribe in 2 Peter was not Silvanus, who was the scribe for 1 Peter, it would account for the difference in language and literary style.

Just as asking William Shakespeare to pass along the message, please pick up some eggs on the way home, may end up sounding like this.

As homeward bends thy faithful course, I pray thee tarry at thy merchant's stall, and unto our house bring a dozen eggs that morning's feast may smile upon us all.

Peter's precise.

Shakespeare, probably.

But Peter's precise words, just like that, would have certainly been shaped by the scribe that he used.

Now, one particular theory that kind of resonates with me is that Peter used Jude, the brother of Jesus and fellow leader in the church and author of the letter Jude as his scribe for 2 Peter because 2 Peter's literary style matches extremely closely to the language and style of Jude.

So with all that said, I don't believe that we need to question authorship as a result of linguistic and style differences when we know that Peter always wrote through a secretary articulating his verbal message for him.

The second explanation for the difference in language and tone and content has to do with the fact that Peter's occasion for writing was different.

His reason for writing had changed.

Our first letter, if you recall, was written prior to the year 64 AD, or before the Common Era.

Well, this second letter was written after 64 AD, potentially in the year 65 to 66.

Now, does anyone know what changed in the world between these two letters? Well, shortly after the great fire of Rome in 64 AD, the emperor at the time, the emperor Nero, began a formal persecution campaign against Christians throughout the Roman Empire, arresting and killing scores of believers.

And so when Peter first wrote these early Christians in Asia Minor prior to 64, he was writing at a time of increased alienation and increased discrimination of the church, but it was not yet full-fledged persecution.