In
order to expand the Parousial implication of the Transfiguration as a promise
of the Parousia with an aspect of judgment, the author adopts a chiastic
structure in 1:16-2:3a as follows:
(A)
the apostles with their genuine message (1:16-18)
(B)
the genuine prophets in the Hebrew Bible (1:19-21)
(B’)
the false prophets in the Hebrew Bible (2:1a)
(A’)
the false teachers with destructive opinion (2:1b-3)
In
this structure, there is a strong contrast between the apostles/the genuine
prophets and false prophets/the false teachers. While the former group is
guided by the Holy Spirit, the latter is guided by “human will” (1:21).
Adopting this chiastic structure, 2 Peter warns the readers that just as the
false prophets in the Hebrew Bible were condemned by God’s judgment, so also
will the false teachers and their followers surely experience eschatological judgment
of the Parousia (2:3a, 9; 3:5-10). (Simon S. Lee, Jesus’ Transfiguration and
the Believers’ Transformation [Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen
Testament 2.Reihe 265; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009], 141)
Further Reading:
Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura