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.

        The six occurrences of ‘Lord’ that probably refer to God add the following items to the depiction of God in 2 Peter:

        (8) God knows how to save the pious and punish the wicked (2,9), a general conclusion from the specific cases mentioned in 2,4-8;
        (9) time is different for God than for humans (3,8);
        (10) God is not slow to keep the promise of Jesus’ return and all that will accompany it, but is patient, wanting all to repent (3,9.15).

        God and Jesus are most explicitly distinguished in item 6. However, items 1-5, 8-9 describe God in terms drawn from the Hebrew scriptures. This is a figure distinct from Jesus unless the author of 2 Peter thinks Jesus is the God revealed by the Hebrew scriptures. Nothing suggests this.

        God’s creation of the first heavens and earth by means of the word probably refers to the depiction of creation in Genesis 1 as produced by God’s speech, which is also summed up as by the word in Ps 33,6 ¹⁹. God created the first heavens and earth e)c u#datoj kai_ di' u#datoj. This refers to Gen 1,2.6-9 and indicates that God created by first separating the primeval waters with the dome of the heavens and then gathering them together below the heavens so that earth might appear²⁰.

        God’s punishment of the sinful angels refers to Gen 6,1-4, but presumes an understanding of it that is only explicit in extra-biblical literature. God’s destruction of the ancient world and preservation of Noah are drawn from Gen 6,5–8,19. If di' w|n in 2 Pet 3,6 refers to water and the word of God²¹, then God destroyed the first heavens and earth by means of both water and the word. The former means that God ceased to restrain the primeval waters, and creation was undone (cf. Gen 7,11).

        God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and salvation of Lot come from Gen 19,1-29. Prophets sent by God appear very frequently in the Bible. We have already noted that the different meaning of time for God than for humans derives from Ps 90,4.

        Although 2 Peter’s presentation of God is clearly drawn from the Hebrew scriptures, the author does not say anything about God’s election of, and subsequent dealings with, Israel. 2 Peter presents God as God of the whole world and has little to say about the relationship of God to Israel. This probably indicates that the author writes for Gentiles, for whom God’s dealing with people in general is more meaningful than is God’s involvement with Israel.

        It is noteworthy that 2 Peter often avoids making ‘God’ the subject of sentences. The main exception to this is 2,4-8, where the author speaks about God’s punishment of sinners and salvation of the righteous. Elsewhere the author is respectfully indirect, making ‘God’ the object of a preposition to indicate that God is the source of something (1,17.21), or putting ‘God’ in the genitive case (1,2; 3,12). The author also refers to God by speaking of the majestic glory (1,17) and the word of God (3,5).

        Even more striking is the emphasis on the word of God in 2 Peter’s