PETER, THE SECOND EPISTLE OF. What is known as the Second General Epistle of Peter is one of the most puzzling books in the New Testament. In part it so closely resembles the Epistle of Jude that one writer must have copied the other (cp. II. Peter ii. 1 iii. 3 with Jude vss. 4-18). There are good grounds for thinking that it was the author of II. Peter who came second (see JUDE). In that case the author can hardly have been Peter. It is true that the author speaks in the name of Peter (cp. ill. 1; i. 16-18), but the style of the Epistle is different from that of the First Epistle of Peter. Again, there are references to the Epistles of Paul which can hardly he reconciled with Petrine author ship. " They are spoken of as if a collection of them bad been formed; they had already been the object of considerable misinterpretation. What is most remark able of all is that they are spoken of as Scripture " (A. S. Peake). Further, as Currie Martin says, the whole con tent of the Second Epistle of Peter "points to a much later period in the history of the Church than anything that could be covered by the 1•fe of the Apostle." The external evidence for the Epistle is very weak. Origen (third
century) is the first to mention it, and he is doubtful about Its authorship. Eusebius speaks of it as a work the genuineness of which was disputed. It is not in cluded in the Muratorian Canon, nor in the old Latin or Syriac Versions. Other writings besides this were fathered on Peter, and Prof. Peake points out that the authenticity of the " Apocalypse of Peter " is better attested by the Early Church than that of the First Epistle of Peter. Currie Martin thinks the date of the Second Epistle must be later than 140 A.D. Peake also thinks it can hardly be much earlier than the middle of the second century. This seems to be suggested by the nature of the false teaching to which reference is made. " This date is also confirmed by the close relationship with the Apocalypse of Peter. No certain conclusion can be reached as to the place of composition, but the affinities with Philo and Clement of Alexandria point to Egypt, in which also the Apocalypse of Peter was pro bably written " (A. S. Peake). See J. A. M'Clymont: G. Currie Martin; Arthur S. Peake, Intr.; J. Moffatt, Intr.