In his book, The Promise of His Appearing, as Peter Leithart unpacks 2 Peter, he gives five "Knock-Down Arguments" for seeing the entire letter as about Jesus' prophecy concerning the coming crisis of Jerusalem and Judaism in A.D. 70 (cf. Mark 13):
1. Peter wrote his second letter on the theme of the coming of Jesus, which he says was also a theme of his first letter, which is 1 Peter. Since 1 Peter's teaching about the "coming" of Jesus highlights its imminence, 2 Peter must be dealing with the same looming event.
2. Peter defends the reliability of the promised coming of Jesus by reference to the Transfiguration. In each of the Synoptics, this event is connected immediately with a prophecy of Jesus' "coming" within the lifetime of some of His disciples, a prophecy filled out in the Olivet Discourse. Peter's argument from the Transfiguration makes best sense if he is using it to support this prophecy. Thus the "coming" that Peter insists will happen is an event that Jesus said would take place in the first century.
3. Peter says explicitly that the destruction of false teachers is coming "soon." Their destruction is the same event as the destruction of the present heavens and earth, the "day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men" (3:7). If the destruction of false teachers was near when Peter wrote, so also was the destruction of the heavens and earth and the coming of a new heavens and earth.
4. Peter responds to mockers who doubt the promise of Jesus' coming because time has passed without any sign of the Parousia. If there were no time limit on the original prophecy, then the mockers would have no grounds for their mockery and no way to attract converts to their skeptical views. Therefore, the original prophecy must have included a time limit, a terminus ad quem, and that time limit must have been the lifetime of the apostles.
5. For the mockers, the passing of the "fathers," the apostles and their associates, casts doubt on the truth of Jesus' promise to come in power. This objection has weight only if Jesus had in fact promised to come before the "fathers" passed from the scene. Thus the prophecy in dispute in 2 Peter 3 promised a "coming" within the apostolic generation. The prophecy Peter says will be fulfilled is a prophecy about Jesus' coming within the generation.
2 comments:
(Jim McDermott)
What you've included in this "post", Blake, only increases my interest in not merely reading the book / commentary, but in it being the "vehicle" for my Friday morning group's follow-up to Dr. K. Gentry's NAVIGATING THE BOOK OF REVELATION. That said, now that your previous "post" has made me aware of the Dr. P. Gentry / Wellum treatise which is about to be released, I'll apparently have a very difficult choice between the two.
I'm quite disappointed that you didn't include Dr. K. Gentry's OLIVET DISCOURSE MADE EASY on your list. I hope that you will not merely reconsider reading it, but that you will read it at your first opportunity! Dr. K. Gentry's dissertation became his book BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL; ultimately, his complete Revelation commentary (to be published during Winter 2013) will be his Magnum Opus. Deo volente, your dissertation will enhance and accelerate your contribution to pursuit and defense of Truth!
Hey Jim,
It is a very small book so it may or may not be suitable for a group.
On the other hand, the Wellum/Gentry book will be close to 900 pages, so it will be a bit much for most folks.
I am swamped for school, so Gentry's book will have to wait a bit, but I'd like to read it. I keep hearing about the 3 volume Revelation commentary, but I wonder if it will ever see the light of day!
in Christ,
bw
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