New Testament · Letter · book 61 of 66 · 2 min read
The book of 2 Peter
A short, fierce letter against teachers who had concluded that nothing was going to happen, containing the New Testament's most-quoted line about God's timing.
“The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
At a glance
- Chapters
- 3
- Author
- Peter, though authorship is the most debated in the New Testament
- Written
- Uncertain; possibly late first or early second century
- Written for
- Churches facing teachers who denied the return of Christ
- Themes
- false teachers, knowledge, the delay, patience
What it is about
2 Peter is preoccupied with false teachers, and chapter 2 attacks them at length and with vivid contempt — much of it shared, almost word for word, with Jude.
The specific problem is scoffers asking where the promise of his coming is, since everything continues as it always has. The letter's answer is about time rather than evidence: a day is like a thousand years, and the delay is patience rather than absence.
Its authorship is the most contested in the New Testament, on grounds of style, its relationship to Jude, and its late attestation. Early church writers were themselves uncertain about it.
Where to start
Chapter 3, which contains the argument about delay and is the part of the letter still doing work.
The chapters worth knowing
- 2 Peter 1 — The list of qualities to add to faith, and the claim to have been an eyewitness.
- 2 Peter 3 — The answer to the scoffers — a day is like a thousand years, and the delay is patience.
What people get wrong about it
That a thousand years as a day is a formula for calculating prophecy. It is an argument that delay is not evidence of absence, made against people who had drawn exactly that conclusion.
Questions
Why is 2 Peter's authorship debated?
Its Greek style differs sharply from 1 Peter, much of chapter 2 parallels Jude, and it is attested later than any other New Testament book. Early Christian writers were themselves unsure about it.
What does a day is like a thousand years mean?
It answers people who said the promised return had not happened so it never would. The point is that delay is patience rather than absence — not a formula for calculating dates.