The Second Peter Pseudepigraphy as Exemplarity in the Second Canonical Petrine Epistle

Abstract

In early Christian literary production, Peter emerges as an early apostolic figure of prominence ripe for a prolific textual afterlife, lending his name to a wide range of literature. These works include 2 Peter, which is widely recognized as a pseudepigraphal writing. Here, the author argues that pseudepigraphy is a form of exemplarity-the constructive and strategic usage of a figure from the past as a model for the present and future. Within this model, 2 Peter is read as a pseudepigraphon styled and traditioned as a second, testamentary epistle of Peter, the leader of the apostles. Second Peter's authoritative status is doubted in the early stages of the canonical process. But the ongoing transmission of the reputation of Peter, attested for example by the manuscript tradition, aids this work's establishment as a Petrine text.