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Who is the Author?
The first words of the book are “Simon Peter,” and so we might accept that and understand the author of this work to be Simon Peter, one of the twelve apostles (as most evangelicals do). Other scholars, however, regard 2 Peter as an example of a pseudepigraphal writing, claiming that despite its title, 2 Peter was probably not written by Peter.1 These individuals argue that the book is an example of a pseudepigraphal text. Pseudepigraphy in the ancient world was the practice of an author attributing their writing to someone else who was more of an authority figure than the actual author. Today, we would consider this practice deceptive. In the ancient world, however, this practice was not nearly as maligned, nor was it uncommon. In some circumstances, a person’s close disciples or peers would write a text under that person’s name, perhaps even receiving permission to do so. In the case of 2 Peter, not much is known about the author, but it is not impossible that a disciple or peer of the real Simon Peter wrote the letter after Peter’s death, in an attempt to preserve Peter’s apostolic teaching. Regardless of who the author was, the teaching in 2 Peter is relevant for every Christian in every time and place.