The main objections can be listed in
the following way:
·
The Greek style
and vocabulary are considered too sophisticated for some one of Peter’s
Galilean origins.
·
An apostle of Peter’s
stature would not have used material from the Letter of Jude in his own work .
. .
·
The style,
vocabulary, and themes are too different from 1 Peter to allow for common
authorship.
·
The intense
concern for the delay of Christ’s return best fits the era after the apostles
had died.
·
The reference to
Paul’s writings on a par with “scripture” (3:16) best fits a period after Peter’s
death, when Paul’s writings had been collected and were beginning to function as
authoritative apostolic testimony.
When taken together these objections
present considerable challenges to Peter’s authorship, and a majority of
scholars today conclude that 2 Peter was written in Peter’s name after his
death by one of his disciples. Still, some scholars continue to argue that
Peter is most probably the author of the letter, and each of the objections to
Peter’s authorship can be answered.
·
Many argue that over
the course of twenty years of ministry, Peter could have attained the level of
proficiency in Greek that we find in 2 Peter. Close analysis indicates that the
author was not a native Greek speaker.
·
It is not
implausible that Peter reworked material from another respected early Church
figure (Jude).
·
To account for
the differences in style between 1 Peter and 2 Peter, Se. Jerome proposed that
Peter may have used two different secretaries, each of whom had some latitude in
word choice and literary style. Some scholars continue to find this explanation
persuasive.
·
The concern about
the delay of Christ’s return could also fit the late-apostolic period of the
60s when the first generation of Christians was beginning to pass away. This
does not rule out authorship by Peter.
·
Some scholars
argue that 2 Peter does not place Paul’s writings on a part with Scripture but
simply asserts that the false teachers are twisting Paul’s letters just as they
twist the Scriptures. (Daniel Keating, First and Second Peter, Jude [Catholic
Commentary on Sacred Scripture; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2019], 128-29)
