82 SCOTT HAFEMANN as a reference to experiencing God’s presence and/or taking on God’s/Christ’s moral character now as a result of already escaping the moral corruption of this world in this life (an experiential and/or ethical reading focused fundamentally on the present) 8. The only serious challenge to these traditional approaches has come from Al Wolters’ covenantal reading of the text 9. Wolters argues that θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως refers to being “partners of the Deity” in God’s covenant as a result of having been acquitted of the corruption of the fallen world brought about through sinful desire. As the crux of his ar- gument, Wolters maintains that θεία φύσις, like the designations θεία δύναµις (2 Pet 1,3) and µεγαλοπρεπὴς δόξα (2 Pet 1,17), is a substitute description of God as a person, meaning “divine being” or “deity”, and not a reference to the “divine nature” as an abstract entity. He points out that φύσις can be used concretely to refer to a creature or entity (cf. Plato, Tim. 42c; 3 Macc 3,29; James 3,7, etc., as part of 100 such extant, concrete uses) and that it can also refer to the supreme deity directly (cf. Philo, Fug. 172; Mos. 2.65; Migr. 139, Spec. 1.318 [substituting for “the Lord your God” in Deut 14,1!]). In Philo, Spec. 3.178 and Abr. 144 (cf. Josephus, A.J. 8.107) the exact phrase θεία φύσις is used for the biblical God, thereby providing further parallels to the meaning “divine being” or “deity” proposed for 1,4 10. Wolters has demonstrated that recognizing the covenant context of 2 Pet 1,4 makes important linguistic and theological contributions to un- derstanding the passage. In particular, Wolters’ construal cautions us not to separate the θεία φύσις in view from the personal θεός it signifies, which has led to the phrase wrongly being interpreted as a static abstrac- tion in reference to a divine “being”, “essence”, or “quality”. Moreover, in Divine Nature. 2 Peter 1,4 in Its Hellenistic Context (ConB 33; Stockholm 2000) 49, 65, 185, 189, 215, 220, 232-233. Strongly represented in the 19th and early 20th century commentaries, fo- 8 cusing on participation in the Spirit or union with Christ, e.g., J.T. BECK, Petrus- briefe. Ein Kommentar (Gießen, 1895) 242-244, and J.B. MAYOR, The Epistle of St. Jude and the Second Epistle of St. Peter (London, 1907) 190; more re- cently, see F.W. DANKER, “2 Peter 1: A Solemn Decree”, CBQ 40 (1978) 71. “‘Partners of the Deity’: A Covenantal Reading of 2 Peter 1:4”, CTJ 25 9 (1990) 28-46, and “Postscript to ‘Partners of the Deity’”, CTJ 26 (1990) 418- 420; he is now followed by R.A. REESE, 2 Peter & Jude (The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI 2007) 133, 135. WOLTERS, “Partners”, 34-37. 10 © Gregorian Biblical Press 2012 - Tutti i diritti riservati