Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:1
This article begins a study of 2 Peter, the second of the epistles within the New Testament canon which are attributed to the apostle Peter, written shortly before his death (1:13-15). The author identifies himself as “Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ” (1:1a). “Simeon” (Symeon in the Hebrew spelling) is a different spelling for the name “Simon” (see also Acts 15:14). The author identifies himself as a “servant” (doulos, slave) and “apostle” (apostolos, messenger, one sent out).
The writer claims to have been an eyewitness of Christ’s transfiguration, an event the gospel accounts say was witnessed by Peter (1:16-18; cf. Matt. 17:1-8), thus making his claim of apostleship to mean that he was one of the Twelve (Matt. 10:1-4ff). Therefore, if someone other than Peter wrote the letter under his name (as some in scholarship circles have supposed), they would have been deliberately lying, which would be proof that 2 Peter is not actually inspired by God (cf. Tit. 1:2; 2 Tim. 3:16).
Another reason some questions Petrine authorship of this epistle is because of the similarities between chapter 2 and the book of Jude. However, an examination of the parallels between the books show closeness but not complete exactness. Peter may have been inspired by God to include within this letter parts from the book of Jude that he thought would be helpful to the readers, just as Paul had done with his letters to Ephesus and Colossae (compare Ephesians 2-5 with Colossians 2-3). In like manner, it’s possible that Jude might have been inspired to use Peter’s letter in his writings.
In the end, there is no historical evidence to support the theory that the apostle Peter did not write 2 Peter. Furthermore, authorship from anyone other than the actual apostle would likely have kept 2 Peter from becoming part of the New Testament canon since the early church took a dim view of writing in another person’s name and falsely claiming to be an apostle (cf. 2 Thess. 2:2; 3:17; Rev. 2:2; 2 Cor. 11:13). For these reasons it is acceptable to conclude that the apostle Peter wrote 2 Peter.
The apostle addresses the letter to “those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (1:1b). While it’s easy for modern readers to “skip over” salutations like these under the postulation that there’s nothing of spiritual value to be gained from them since they’re only greetings, such an assumption would be a mistake in this case. Since “every word of God is tested” (Prov. 30:5a), it would be well for us to pause for further contemplation.
Consider…God is inspiring Peter (1:19-21) to tell his Christian readers that the faith they have “obtained” through the gospel (Rom. 1:16-17; 10:17) is “of equal standing” with the faith held by himself and his fellow apostles (“ours”), and that this is all possible “by the righteousness” of the “God and Savior Jesus Christ,” a God and Savior whom the apostle tells his Christian readers are “our God and Savior.” This apostle, a leader in the church who was and still is highly regarded by all Christianity, considers his faith to be no greater or worse than his fellow Christians. His faith is because of Deity’s righteousness, just like ours. His God and Savior is your God and Savior…and mine too.
— Jon
