One of the New Testament’s General Epistles; the twenty-second book of the New Testament; the sixty-first book of the Bible.
Author: Simon Peter, one of the leaders among the twelve apostles. Peter was the main speaker at Pentecost (Acts 2), and fled Jerusalem after a miraculous escape from Herod around AD 42 (Acts 12). Little is known of his ministry after this time. Peter was at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) and in Antioch around the same time as Paul (Galatians 2:11–14). Tradition notes that Peter died as a martyr under Nero in Rome around AD 65. Authorship of this letter was somewhat controversial in early church history. The weight of evidence strongly supports the letter of 2 Peter being written by the same author as 1 Peter (1 Peter 1:1; 2 Peter 3:1), but subtle differences in style between the two have led to doubts. The consensus view is that this is Peter’s letter.
Audience: General Epistles are also known as “catholic epistles,” meaning they are written to a general audience, rather than to a specific person or church. Second Peter is most likely written to the same audience as that of 1 Peter (2 Peter 3:1). This included Gentile and Jewish believers, even though Peter’s ministry was focused primarily on Jews.
Date: Tradition teaches that Peter ministered in Rome during the AD 60s. Since Peter likely died during Nero’s persecution around AD 65, the letter was written prior to this time.