Bible Commentaries
2 Peter

INTRODUCTION

THIS second Epistle of Peter is addressed, as the introductory salutation specifies, not to any particular church or churches, but to the followers of Jesus Christ in general. The allusions contained in 2 Peter 3:15,2 Peter 3:16, imply that it was written after some, at least, of the Epistles of Paul had been extensively circulated. Beyond this there is no evidence in regard to any of the circumstances under which it was written. It consists of a brief but solemn warning against the dangers of unbelief, error and sin, enforced by a strong representation of the certainty and the nearness of the final judgment. This second Epistle is characterized by a certain solemn grandeur of imagery and diction, very different from the style in which the miscellaneous practical instructions of the first are expressed in fact, in respect to these qualities of composition, there are some passages, in the two concluding chapters, scarcely equalled by any other portion of the sacred writings.