The Definition of the word Peter, SecondEpistle of

Peter, SecondEpistle of

The question of the authenticity of this epistle has been much "discussed, but the weight of evidence is wholly in favour of its" claim to be the production of the apostle whose name it bears. It appears to have been written shortly before the apostle's death (1:14). This epistle contains eleven references to the Old "Testament. It also contains (3:15, 16) a remarkable reference to" Paul's epistles. Some think this reference is to 1 Thess. "4:13-5:11. A few years ago, among other documents, a parchment" "fragment, called the "Gospel of Peter," was discovered in a" Christian tomb at Akhmim in Upper Egypt. Origen (obiit A.D. "254), Eusebius (obiit 340), and Jerome (obiit 420) refer to such" "a work, and hence it has been concluded that it was probably" written about the middle of the second century. It professes to give a history of our Lord's resurrection and ascension. While "differing in not a few particulars from the canonical Gospels," the writer shows plainly that he was acquinted both with the "synoptics and with the Gospel of John. Though apocryphal, it is" of considerable value as showing that the main facts of the history of our Lord were then widely known.