THE CANONICAL FUNCTION OF 2 PETER

2001 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Wall
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Historical Criticism ◽  
1 Peter ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Theological Perspective ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Status ◽  
2 Peter

AbstractDuring the modern period, the authority of 2 Peter for Christian theological formation has been challenged by the reconstructions of historical criticism. The verdict of biblical scholarship has been largely negative: the theological conception of 2 Peter comes from a person and for a setting that does not easily cohere with the rest of the New Testament writings. The present essay seeks to rehabilitate the status of 2 Peter for use in biblical theology, independent of the historical problem it poses for the interpreter, by approaching its theological subject matter within the setting of the New Testament canon, where its theological perspective functions as complementary to and integral with 1 Peter in forming Scripture's Petrine witness to the faith.

The Problem of a New Testament Theology

1973 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernst Käsemann
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Historical Criticism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Church

In the Protestant tradition the Bible has long been regarded as the sole norm for the Church. It was from this root that, in the seventeenth century, there sprang first of all ‘biblical theology’, from which New Testament theology later branched off at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Radical historical criticism too kept closely to this tradition, and F. C. Baur made such a theology the goal of all his efforts in the study of the New Testament. Since that time the question how the problem thus posed is to be tackled and solved has remained a living issue in Germany. On the other hand, the problem for a long time held no interest for other church traditions, although here too the position has changed within the last two decades. In 1950 Meinertz wrote the first Catholic exposition, while the theme was taken up in France by Bonsirven in 1951, and by Richardson in England in 1958. Popular developments along these lines were to follow.

scholarly journals Intertextual Strategy of the Narrator of the Second Epistle of Peter in the Catalogue of Virtues (1:5-7)

Verbum Vitae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 865-880
Author(s):  
Mariusz Rosik ◽  
Kalina Wojciechowska
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Greek Philosophy ◽  
1 Peter ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
2 Peter

The Second Epistle of Peter is one of the least studied texts of the New Testament. It is usually compared with 1 Peter and/or Jude and indeed shows some similarities and some differences with these texts. But little attention is paid to the originality of 2 Peter both in its interpretation of texts from the Jewish tradition and in the application of intertextual strategies to elements of Greek philosophy. 2 Pet 1:5-7 is undoubtedly one of the most Hellenized passages of the epistle. Not only did the narrator use a hierarchical catalog of virtues popular in Greek literature, but also terms that are commonly associated with ethics, especially the stoic ethics (faith – πίστις; virtue – ἀρετή; knowledge – γνῶσις). This article aims to present the manner in which the narrator in 2 Pet 1:5-7 enters into dialogue with Greek ethical texts and how he transforms, innovates, and reinterprets these texts. In other words, what intertextual strategy he uses.

Catholic Epistles

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H. Davids ◽  
Darian R. Lockett
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Peter 1 ◽  
1 Peter ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
1 John ◽  
History Of ◽  
Catholic Epistles ◽  
Eusebius Of Caesarea ◽  
2 Peter

Alongside the four Gospels, Acts, the Pauline letters (which often included Hebrews), and the Apocalypse, the Catholic Epistles (James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude) form a discrete collection of works the New Testament. While 1 Peter, 1 John, and Jude were all known and used at an early period in the history of the Christian Church, all seven of these letters entered the New Testament canon as a group. Eusebius of Caesarea (Historia Ecclesiastica 2.23.25, in the early 4th century ce) was the first to explicitly list these seven letters as “the Epistles called Catholic” or Catholic Epistles. Whereas Eusebius is clearly depending upon earlier tradition, it is unclear when exactly these seven letters were first viewed as the collection called the Catholic Epistles. He grouped them since none of them is addressed to a single named church and so they are catholic (in the sense of “universal”) or general. About the same time, the great 4th-century codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus featured the seven in the same order as they are found in most New Testaments today. This collection of seven disparate works from multiple authors became a standard part of the New Testament canon, grouping, as it does (if one accepts the traditional attribution of the works), two of Jesus’ apostles (Peter and John); James, the brother or relative of Jesus (whom later tradition also identified as one of the Twelve); and his brother Jude (called “the brother of James”). The order of the books deliberately brackets Peter and John between the bookends of the third “pillar” of the Jerusalem Church (Gal 2:9) and his brother. This article will be broken down into treatments of multiple works and then treatments of each work or group of works.

The Parousia of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels

1959 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. P. Owen
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Second Century ◽  
First Century ◽  
Synoptic Gospels ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
2 Peter ◽  
Apostolic Church ◽  
Second Coming

The Second Coming (otherwise called the Parousia)1 of Christ constituted a serious problem for the apostolic Church. One of the earliest of Paul's Epistles (1 Thessalonians) shows how quickly his converts became discouraged when some of their number died before the Lord's appearing. In reply Paul repeats his promise that the Lord will soon return, although in his second epistle he has to give a reminder that Antichrist must first make a final bid for power (1 Thess. 4.15–18, 2 Thess. 2). Similarly the author of Hebrews, writing to a disillusioned and apathetic group of Christians some decades later in the first century, recalls the words of Habakkuk that ‘the Lord will come and not be slow’ (10.37). Finally 2 Peter, the latest book of the New Testament (written, perhaps, as late as the middle of the second century), continues to offer the hope of an imminent Parousia to be accompanied by the world's destruction and renewal (ch. 3). If Christians are tempted to despair they must remember that the word of prophets and Apostles is sure (v. 2) and that with God ‘a thousand years are as one day’ (v. 8).

Charismata: Gifts, Enablements, or Ministries?

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69
Author(s):  
Benny Aker
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Spiritual Gifts ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
Church Culture ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The One ◽  
The Church

AbstractIn the midst of a growing awareness of spiritual gifts in contemporary church culture and in the academy, much confusion exists. The use of the term 'charismata' promotes this confusion and is not an appropriate label for the biblical evidence of such activity. The problem lies in a deficient linguistic and exegetical handling of this term—a problem identified by James Barr long ago and brought to the fore by Kenneth Berding. Proper exegesis overcomes this prevalent exegetical and linguistic fallacy and suggests another term, diakonia. However, a more foundational conception of both the church and ministry is lacking. By analyzing Pauline anthropol ogy in Romans, an enduring and foundational model for gifts and ministries emerges. This model is the Pauline conception of the church as God's tem ple. People who are delivered from sin's power through identifying with Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection and who have the Spirit are free to give themselves both as sacrifice and temple servants in spiritual ministries. One other caution is raised and discussed. One must avoid the charge in practice and theology of Spirit-monism. Basic structures of the New Testament always place Jesus as the One through whom the Spirit comes. Conse quently, all Spirit activity must in some way be christological and sote riological in nature. Some contemporary applications are derived from this biblical theology of Church and ministry.

The Church of the Reigning Lord

1948 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-73
Author(s):  
R. Stuart Louden
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Pauline Epistles ◽  
History Of ◽  
Four Square ◽  
The Church

We can trace a revival of theology in the Reformed Churches in the last quarter of a century. The new theological interest merits being called a revival of theology, for there has been a fresh and more thorough attention given to certain realities, either ignored or treated with scant notice for a considerable time previously.First among such realities now receiving more of the attention which their relevance and authority deserve, is the Bible, the record of the Word of God. There is an invigorating and convincing quality about theology which is Biblical throughout, being based on the witness of the Scriptures as a whole. The valuable results of careful Biblical scholarship had had an adverse effect on theology in so far as theologians had completely separated the Old Testament from the New in their treatment of Biblical doctrine, or in expanding Christian doctrine, had spoken of the theological teaching of the Synoptic Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, the Johannine writings, and so on, as if there were no such thing as one common New Testament witness. It is being seen anew that the Holy Scriptures contain a complete history of God's saving action. The presence of the complete Bible open at the heart of the Church, recalls each succeeding Christian generation to that one history of God's saving action, to which the Church is the living witness. The New Testament is one, for its Lord is one, and Christian theology must stand four-square on the foundation of its whole teaching.

Biblical Theology of Life in the New Testament

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bruce Button ◽  
◽  
Elma M. Cornelius ◽  
Jan A. du Rand ◽  
Philip La Grange du Toit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Biblical Theology ◽  
The New Testament

The Remaining New Testament Books as Sacred

2021 ◽  
pp. 171-205
Author(s):  
Donald Senior
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Acts Of The Apostles ◽  
Peter 1 ◽  
1 Peter ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Unique Identity ◽  
1 John

In attempting to make the case that the defining reason the books of the New Testament are considered sacred is because of their focus on the unique identity of Jesus Christ, we have explored the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and writings of Paul. We turn now, with the same conviction, to some of the remaining New Testament books. Our goal here is not to consider every book of the New Testament but to make the case that in the vast majority of them, their proclamation of Christ is central and defining. The books we will focus on in this chapter include Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 1 John, and Revelation, taken in the order in which they appear in the canon. Despite the evident literary diversity of these texts, there is a commanding unity—a unity grounded in their focus on the figure of Jesus Christ. It is that varied but unifying portrayal found in these books which will command our attention in this chapter.

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