Terrance Callan, «The Christology of the Second Letter of Peter», Vol. 82 (2001) 253-263

The Christology of 2 Peter is very exalted. The author calls Jesus God and speaks of his divine power. He uses the title ‘Lord’ both for Jesus and for God; in the latter cases there is usually some ambiguity about which of them is meant. However, the author presents God as a person distinct from Jesus, and there is no suggestion that the author would affirm the existence of two Gods. The transfiguration revealed Jesus as the son of God. It may be understood as an epiphany of the divine Jesus. It was a moment when Jesus received glory from God, in virtue of which he is praised like God.
        2 Peter reflects a stage in early Christian thinking when the word ‘god’ was used in two ways. Usually it was a proper noun that designated the one who revealed himself in the Hebrew scriptures. Occasionally it was used as a common noun that designated those who belonged to the category of the divine. In this way 2 Peter can call Jesus God without either identifying Jesus with God or seriously affirming the existence of two Gods. Eventually these uses were related in the doctrine of the Trinity.

3,9 says that the Lord is not slow about the promise, but is patient; 3,15 refers again to the patience of the Lord.

        Finally, 2 Pet 3,10 refers to the day of the Lord. The parallel with ‘day of God’ in 3,12 suggests that ‘Lord’ here means God. On the other hand, 3,10 quotes 1 Thess 5,2 where ‘day of the Lord’ is probably understood as the day of the Lord Jesus.

        If these six occurrences of ‘Lord’ refer to God, then 2 Peter uses ‘Lord’ about half of the time to mean Jesus, and the other half to mean God. This suggests that 2 Peter sees God and Jesus as the same kind of Lord. In addition, we have just seen that the occurrences of ‘Lord’ that probably refer to God are themselves ambiguous, and might be seen as referring to Jesus. This also indicates that God and Jesus are Lord in the same sense of the word in 2 Peter.

        In 2 Pet 1,11 the author refers to the eternal kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. This suggests that, as Lord, Jesus is an eternal king, like God. In 1,14 the author says that our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to him that he will die soon. This probably refers to John 21,18-19⁸ and thus to a revelation given by Jesus to Peter before Jesus’ definitive return to the Father. It might also refer to a revelation subsequent to that⁹. If so, the verse implies that Jesus continues to guide his followers from heaven, again like God.

        In 2 Pet 1,16 the author of 2 Peter says that he and others were eyewitnesses (e)po/ptai) of Jesus’ majesty. Since this term was used to designate the highest level of initiate into the Eleusinian mysteries, it implies that the vision of Jesus transfigured was comparable to that. And if the highest level of initiation involved a vision of the goddess¹⁰, the word may also suggest that the transfiguration was a vision of Jesus’ divinity.

        The transfiguration was an occasion on which God, the megaloprepou=j do/chj, gave timh_n kai_ do/can to Jesus. This suggests that Jesus’ glory is the same as God’s and that Jesus is divine. Thus in 3,18 the author of 2 Peter praises Jesus with the kind of doxology usually reserved for God. According to Bauckham, the phrase do/ch| kai_ a)reth=| in 1,3 is synonymous with divine power¹¹.

        In 2 Pet 2,10, using language borrowed from the Letter of Jude, the author criticizes the false teachers for slandering the do/caj. This is usually understood to refer to church¹² or secular¹³ leaders or to angels, either good¹⁴ or evil¹⁵. These interpretations may be too much influenced by Jude’s use of the word. In the context of 2 Peter it is most likely that the do/caj are God and Jesus, since they are the ones said in 2 Peter to have glory — God in 1,17; Jesus in 1,3.17; and 3,18. The false teachers’ slander of God and Jesus is their skepticism about Jesus’ return and all that will accompany it.