Paul and the “Other Scriptures”
Paul and the “Other Scriptures”
For some scholars the reference to Paul makes it impossible for them to conclude that Peter wrote this letter. They hold that the reference to Paul’s writings (2 Pet. 3:1516) presupposes an authoritative collection of the Pauline Epistles and that this was unlikely during Peter’s lifetime. But 2 Peter says nothing about a collection, authoritative or otherwise; "all his letters” need mean no more than all his letters known to Peter. The fact that this writing shows so little knowledge of characteristic Pauline doctrines indicates that there was, as yet, no authoritative collection. The reference to Paul’s letters as Scriptures is the major problem in this statement. It is, of course, possible to take γραψας (graphas, from γραφή, G1210) in the sense of "writings,” in which case there is no insuperable difficulty. But it is more likely that the word means "Scriptures,” which brings us face-to-face with the problem of how early the Pauline writings were classed in this category. Paul himself clearly thought his writings inspired (1 Cor. 7:40; 14:37) and authoritative (1 Cor. 2:16; 7:17; 14:37-38; 2 Thess. 3:14). Many recent scholars hold that this estimate was not widely accepted in the primitive church. They often hold that there was a time when Paul’s writings were widely neglected and that it took quite a long time for them to be generally accepted. This may be so, but it must be insisted that there is no evidence to support it. Paul’s view may have been accepted in very early days. In any case, there seems no reason for saying that Peter would not have been in the forefront in recognizing the hand of God in what Paul wrote. One thing in favor of the expression as coming from Peter himself is the candid admission that he found Paul’s writings "hard to understand.” Would someone choosing Peter as the one in whose name he would write go out of his way to introduce a doubt as to that apostle’s ability to understand Paul?