“Divine Nature” in 2 Pet 1,4 within its Eschatological Context 2 Peter 1,4b presents the main point of the epistle’s opening argu- ment by signaling the purpose of redemption: ἵνα διὰ τούτων [ta. ἐπαγγέλµατα, 1,4a] γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως. In so doing, this ἵνα clause also introduces the purpose of the letter as a whole, thereby providing a crux interpretum for its reading 1. Far beyond its place within 2 Peter, however, the theological import of this text has played a key role both in the reconstruction of early Christianity and within the doctrinal development of the church. In the former case, it has been taken to signal an apparently later, Hellenistic development within the primitive Christian movement; in the latter, it eventually becomes an authoritative proof text for the concept of theosis 2. The two perspectives come together in E. Käsemann’s judgment, for whom 2 Pet 1,4 represents a “relapse of Christianity into Hellenistic dualism”, in which “apotheosis is [man’s] true destiny. This is what the mystics and Gnosis promise him. But, according to our epistle, this is exactly what the Christian kerygma promises him also” 3. I. The Ontological Reading of φύσις in 2 Peter 1,4b Central to understanding this programmatic text is the meaning of φύσις itself, which was presupposed in 2 Peter as common ground between author and audience. Recovering this ground from our dis- tance has been made more difficult, however, by the common impres- For the role of 2 Pet 1,3-11 within 2 Peter, see S.J. HAFEMANN, “Salva- 1 tion in Jude 5 and the Argument of 2 Peter 1:3-11”, The Catholic Epistles and Apostolic Tradition (eds. K.-W. NIEBUHR ‒ R.W. WALL) (Waco, TX 2009) 339-342, 480-482. For an overview of its reception-history, see A. VÖGTLE, Der Judasbrief 2 / Der 2. Petrusbrief (EKKNT 22; Solothurn / Neukirchen-Vluyn 1994) 145- 148, Partakers of the Divine Nature. The History and Development of Deifi- cation in the Christian Traditions (eds. M.J. CHRISTENSEN ‒ J.A. WITTUNG) (Grand Rapids, MI 2008) and the paradigmatic “exchange formula” in Ire- neaus, Against Heresies 5 and Athanasius, On the Incarnation 54. E. KÄSEMANN, “An Apologia for Primitive Christian Eschatology”, Es- 3 says on New Testament Themes (SBT 41; Naperville, IL 1964) 179-180. BIBLICA 94.1 (2013) 80-99 © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati