The Books of the New Testament Part 25

Peter probably became acquainted with the Epistle of St. James while at Antioch and before his arrival at Rome. In any case, the author shows himself by no means exclusively indebted to St. Paul, and the candid student must therefore admit that it is unreasonable to discredit this Epistle on the ground that it represents St. Peter as preaching "Paulinism."

It is also a.s.serted that the Greek is too flowing to have been written by St. Peter, especially if Papias is right in saying that St. Peter required the services of St. Mark as "interpreter." The style of the Greek is, indeed, good. It contains a considerable number of cla.s.sical Greek words, though it is also saturated with the language of the Septuagint. It is simple, correct, and impressive. But the large extent to which Greek was spoken in Palestine, and the fact that it was the language of Antioch, make it quite possible that St. Peter obtained a considerable mastery over Greek. We cannot attach a quite definite meaning to the word "interpreter." It need not imply that St. Peter always, or even at any time in his later life, required his Aramaic to be translated into Greek. It is not unusual for a clever modern missionary to lecture and write in correct Chinese after a very few years of practice, and there would be nothing strange if St. Peter soon acquired a comparatively easy language such as h.e.l.lenistic Greek. It is therefore quite unnecessary for {241} some half-hearted apologists to suggest that the Epistle was mainly or entirely written for St.

Peter by his secretary, Silva.n.u.s (1 Pet. v. 12). The expression and connection of the ideas contained in it are far too natural and easy for us to think that two hands were concerned in its composition, and the tone of authority used in v. 1 can only be explained on the theory that St. Peter or a forger wrote the Epistle. The language of ch. v.

is most easily explained by the theory that Silva.n.u.s, a trusted friend and delegate of St. Peter, carried the letter. The letter was purposely made short (v. 12) because its lessons were to be enforced by Silva.n.u.s.

[Sidenote: To whom written.]

"To the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." Considerable difficulty is attached to this address. At first sight it seems to mean those Christians of Asia Minor north of the Taurus mountains who had been converted from Judaism. But there are some verses in the Epistle which seem to imply that the readers had been pagans. These verses are i. 14; ii. 9, 10; iii. 6; iv. 3. They suggest that the readers had led a licentious heathen life, and had been only recently admitted to any covenant with G.o.d. The bearing of some of them is a little uncertain. For instance, ii. 10 says that the converts in time past "were no people, but now are the people of G.o.d"--the same verse that St. Paul in Rom. ix. 25 applies to the calling of the Gentiles. This verse is thought to furnish a strong argument for those scholars who hold that the Epistle is addressed to Gentiles, and that "sojourners of the Dispersion" must be taken in a figurative sense, meaning Christians who are exiled from the heavenly Canaan. But as the verse is from Hos. i. 10, and is applied by Hosea himself to the Jews, it is certainly _possible_ to hold that St. Peter also applies it to Jews. In this case the word "Dispersion"

would retain its literal meaning, and the Epistle would be written to converts from Judaism. But the reference to "idolatries" in iv. 3 cannot be applied to Jews. And it {242} would be quite unnatural for St. Peter to speak about the heathen thinking it "strange" that converted _Jews_ refused to join in their idolatrous excesses. The word "you" in i. 12 suggests that the readers belonged to a different race from the Hebrew prophets. Finally, the phrase "elect of the Dispersion" must be compared with "in Babylon, elect" (v. 13). Like the name "Babylon" for Rome, the word "Dispersion" is a Jewish phrase taken over by the Christian Church. We agree, then, with St. Jerome and St. Augustine in holding that this Epistle was written to Gentiles.

[Sidenote: Where and when written.]

The Epistle says, "She that is in Babylon, elect together with you, saluteth you" (v. 13). This means the Church in Rome. The name "Babylon" is applied to Rome in the Revelation, and from an early period the Christians would naturally be inclined to give this name to a city which had become, like Babylon of old, the centre of worldliness and oppression. It is practically certain that St. Peter spent his last days in Rome. Moreover, St. Mark was with St. Peter when this Epistle was written (v. 13), and from 2 Tim. iv. 11 we know that St.

Mark was invited to Rome about A.D. 64. It is most improbable that "Babylon" signifies either the Babylon near Cairo, or the great city on the Euphrates. Three facts enable us to determine the date: (1) The presence of Mark in Rome. (2) The fact that St. Peter appears never to have been in Rome when Colossians was written in A.D. 60--so that the Epistle cannot be earlier than A.D. 60. (3) The allusion in iv. 13-15 to the fact that Christians are already punished for being named Christians. In the period described in Acts they are not yet punished merely for being Christians, but for specific crimes alleged against them by their opponents. It is often a.s.serted that this Epistle must be later than the time of Nero, on the ground that it was after Nero's time that the name _Christian_ ensured the legal condemnation of any one who bore it. But this a.s.sertion is not supported by the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius. Their words support the contention {243} that the kind of persecution mentioned in this Epistle began under Nero in A.D. 64. When the Epistle was written this persecution had probably begun, but it had not yet a.s.sumed its most savage form.[3]

(4) St. Peter himself suffered under Nero, not later than A.D. 67. We may therefore confidently date the Epistle about A.D. 64.

It appears from v. 12 that in writing this Epistle St. Peter was a.s.sisted by "Silva.n.u.s, our faithful brother," as an amanuensis. He is probably the "Silas" (another form of the same name) mentioned in Acts xv. 22, 32, 40, and the Silva.n.u.s in 1 Thess. i. 1; 2 Thess. i. 1, 2 Cor. i. 19.

[Sidenote: Character and Contents.]

This Epistle is highly practical, and though it is rich in doctrinal elements, it endeavours to instruct the readers in conduct rather than doctrine. The two key-words of the Epistle are _suffering_ and _hope_, and the sufferings of Christ and the glories which crowned them furnish St. Peter with encouragement. Though he writes in plain sympathy with the liberal Christianity of St. Paul, his language throughout bears the impress of the Old Testament. Christ is the "lamb" (i. 19) and the "corner-stone" (ii. 6); Christians are the "elect race" (ii. 9) and the "royal priesthood" (ii. 9). Without discussing the problems raised by G.o.d's predestination of the Jews, he says that they were "appointed"

unto stumbling, and their stumbling seems to be regarded as the punishment which G.o.d attached to their disobedience.

The fact that in i. 2 the names of the Three Persons of the Trinity are given in an order which does not correspond with the order of their revelation in the history of religion, indicates that they are regarded as coequal. We may note that in iv. 19 the Father is called "faithful Creator," a unique expression. The teaching about the work of Christ is full. He is often {244} simply called "Christ" without the name "Jesus." He is called "Lord," and His special divine Sonship is implied (i. 3). The real existence of our Lord before His birth on earth is also implied. It has been said that i. 20 signifies that He was only known to the Father as destined to exist in the future. This interpretation is excluded by i. 11, which shows that His Spirit inspired the prophets before His birth. It is still more definitely excluded by iii. 18, 19. Here it is shown that His personality resided neither in His flesh, nor in His human spirit clothed "in which" He preached to the dead. This spirit was therefore taken by a personality which existed previous to the creation of the spirit. The Atonement is prominent. Christ's death is both an example and a redemption which procured G.o.d's grace. He died "for the unrighteous." He carried our sins in His body to the cross (ii. 24). The Resurrection is one of the "glories" which followed His sufferings (i. 11). It is a unique motive to our faith (i. 21), and the cause of the efficacy of our baptism (iii. 21). The Ascension is the fact which guarantees to us the present rule of Christ (iii. 22). In iv. 6 we have an important statement with regard to the dead, which must be studied in relation to iii. 18-20. The purpose of Christ's preaching to those who died before the gospel came was that though judged they yet might live. Blessings which they had not known on earth were offered to them by the dead but living Christ.

The practical side of the Epistle is simple but solemn. It deals with the privileges (i. 3-ii. 10), duties (ii. 11-iv. 11), and trials (iv.

12-v. 11) of the brethren. It seems to be written with the hope that the Christians may perhaps disarm persecution if they abstain from vainly attempting to set every one to rights and are scrupulously loyal to the Government (ii. 14-17).

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a.n.a.lYSIS

Salutation (i. 1, 2).

The joy of salvation, a joy which springs from faith; this salvation was foretold by the prophets: the fruits of salvation, seriousness, love towards others, growth, the privilege of being built upon Christ: Christians are the true Israel (i. 3-ii. 10).

The Christian brotherhood and its duties, submission to civil magistrates, slaves must obey even unreasonable masters, wives if good and gentle may win their husbands, husbands must reverence their wives: kindness must be the Christian's rule, there must be no return of evil for evil; suffering, if wrongfully endured, has its reward. Christ's sufferings issued in blessing, in His ministerial journey to Hades and His triumphant journey into heaven: Christ our Example, our rule is the will of G.o.d: Christian life must be guided in view of the approaching end of all things, each of our gifts is to be used for the good of the whole Church (ii. 11-iv. 11).

The trials of the brethren, trust in G.o.d in the midst of suffering, rejoice in your partic.i.p.ation in Christ's suffering, bear the reproach that fell on Him, to suffer as a Christian is cause for thanksgiving, suffering to be expected, judgment is beginning: the relation of pastors and people, the presbyters not to act as slaves, hirelings, or tyrants: final counsels to humility and firmness (iv. 12-v. 11).

Commendation of the bearer, and salutations (v. 12-14).

[1] Compare 1 Pet. i. 14 with Rom. xii. 2; 1 Pet. i. 21 with Rom. iv.

24; 1 Pet. ii. 5 with Rom. xii. 1; 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7 with Rom. ix. 33; 1 Pet. ii. 10 with Rom. ix. 25, 26; 1 Pet. ii. 18 with Eph. vi. 5; 1 Pet.

iii. 1 with Eph. v. 22; 1 Pet. v. 5 with Eph. v. 21.

[2] Compare 1 Pet. i. 1 with Jas. i. 1; 1 Pet. i. 6 f. with Jas. i. 2 f., 12; 1 Pet. i. 23 with Jas. i. 18; 1 Pet. ii. 1 with Jas. i. 21; 1 Pet. ii. 11 with Jas. iv. 1; 1 Pet. v. 6 with Jas. iv. 7, 10; 1 Pet. v.

9 with Jas. iv. 7; and the quotation in 1 Pet. v. 5 with Jas. iv. 6.

[3] For the persecution and its bearing on the date of this Epistle, see Leighton Pullan, _History of Early Christianity_, p. 105 ff.

(Service and Paton, 1898).

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CHAPTER XXII

THE SECOND EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER

[Sidenote: The Author.]

The difficulties which are connected with the authorship of this Epistle are greater than those connected with the authorship of any other book of the New Testament. A mult.i.tude of objections have been raised against its genuineness, and it has been p.r.o.nounced spurious by a considerable number even of Christian writers. But while fully admitting that the problem is complicated, we can lawfully simplify it by at once dismissing some of the weaker objections. For instance, the statement that 2 Peter quotes from Josephus, the celebrated Jewish historian, who died c. A.D. 103, is utterly unproved. Again, the often-repeated statement that the doctrine of man being made a partaker of the divine nature (2 Pet. i. 4) is a doctrine which was not taught until after the apostolic age, is unwarrantable, unless we repudiate wholesale many books of the New Testament which we have every reason to regard as apostolic. For the indwelling of the Father in Christ and in the believer through Christ is implied by St. Paul, St. John, St.

James, and St. Peter. The writer, in laying stress upon the importance of spiritual knowledge, is once more in agreement with St. Paul and St.

John. He plainly does not mean mere intellectual _knowledge_, and the doctrine which he teaches is of a very simple kind. The slight reference made to the Redemption (ii. 1) and the silence manifested as to the Resurrection cannot be considered so crucial as some scholars believe them to be. Readers of the First Epistle could hardly fail to have these {247} facts printed in their very souls. They would not require to have them repeated in a second letter.

The language of the Epistle, especially in the verses which do not depend upon Jude, shows several small coincidences with 1 Peter and with the speeches of St. Peter in Acts. We may compare the phrases in 2 Pet. ii. 15 with Acts i. 18, and 2 Pet. iii. 10 with Acts ii. 19, and

Compare 2 Pet. i. 7 with 1 Pet. i. 22, iii. 8.

" " i. 19, 20 " " i. 10-12.

" " ii. 1 " " i. 18 " " iii. 6 " " iii. 20.

" " iii. 14 " " i. 19.

The writer abstains from copying the designation of the apostle contained in 1 Peter, and does not record the words spoken from heaven at the Transfiguration exactly as they are reported in the Gospels. In both these points a forger would very probably have acted otherwise.

On the whole, the words employed in 2 Peter seem indecisive with regard to the authorship. There is sufficient variation to allow us to believe that it was written or not written by the apostle. One of the most remarkable words in 2 Peter is that employed in i. 16 for an "eye-witness." It is a word used in the Greek heathen mysteries, and some critics think that such a word would not have been used by an orthodox writer until an age when the Church had learnt to borrow Greek religious terms from the Gnostic heretics. It is a sufficient proof of the weakness of this argument that the Greek verb derived from this noun is found in 1 Pet. ii. 12. It is, however, fair to say that the style of 2 Peter is less simple and less closely connected with the Old Testament than that of 1 Peter.

More serious objections are (1) the lack of external evidence in the writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries; (2) the internal evidence that the Epistle is based upon Jude, and perhaps on the Apocalypse of Peter.

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Eusebius is evidently in doubt about it. He says, "We have not indeed received it by tradition to be in the Canon, yet as it appeared useful to many, it was studiously read with the other Scriptures." [1] It is not mentioned by Irenaeus, nor is it in the list given in the _Muratorian Fragment_. But it seems to have been commented on by Clement of Alexandria, though it is not quoted in his extant works.

Origen does mention it in his original Greek works, but in a manner which shows that it was disputed in his time. In Rufinus' Latin translation of Origen there are several quotations from 2 Peter, but against this fact it is sometimes urged that Rufinus emended Origen, and that we cannot be absolutely certain that these quotations are genuine. The Epistle seems to have been known to Origen's great contemporary Hippolytus (_Refut._ ix. 7; x. 20 and elsewhere). There are, moreover, pa.s.sages in still earlier writers which are perhaps based on 2 Peter. These are in Clement of Rome, A.D. 95, Justin Martyr, A.D. 152, and the doc.u.ment which is wrongly called the Second Epistle of Clement, and is really a Roman homily of about A.D. 140.

The evidence of these pa.s.sages is not positive, but if even one of them is quoted from 2 Peter, it becomes quite impossible to a.s.sign 2 Peter to A.D. 150-170, which is the date most favoured by those who deny its authenticity. Nor is the omission of any mention of it in Irenaeus and the _Muratorian Fragment_ a very destructive fact. The _Muratorian Fragment_ is only a fragment, and does not mention 1 Peter, and there is no pa.s.sage in Irenaeus quoted from James. Yet it is certain that those two Epistles belong to the apostolic age. The fact is that such a very large amount of the literature of the 2nd century has been destroyed, that it is always precarious to argue from omissions in the books which are still extant. Therefore, although the evidence of writers of the 2nd and 3rd centuries is certainly meagre in the case of 2 Peter, we cannot argue that comparative lack of evidence means positively hostile evidence. A {249} notable step towards the determination of the problem will be made if scholars eventually agree to a.s.sign a very early date to the two great Egyptian versions of the New Testament. Both these versions contain 2 Peter.

As to the connection between 2 Peter and Jude, it may be regarded as certain that either they both depend on some previous doc.u.ment, or that one of them depends on the other.

Compare Jude 6 with 2 Pet. ii. 4.

" " 7 " " ii. 6.

" " 8 " " ii. 10.

" " 10 " " ii. 12.

" " 11 " " ii. 15.

" " 12, 13 " " ii. 13, 17.

" " 16 " " ii. 18.

" " 17, 18 " " iii. 1-3.