Reflections on the Authorship of 2 Peter

Abstract

Authorship debates commence when the named author of a writing is thought to be incapable of producing that document. This assumes that enough is known about the author in question to make such a judgment. This paper is a plea for caution. It argues that there are often too many variables involved in such historical questions – especially with respect to earliest Christianity – to make dogmatic assertions. A better way is to admit openly our limitations. Five specific examples of potential ambiguity in authorship debates are discussed.