Read this if you…
- want a farewell letter from a man writing in the shadow of his coming death
- curious about the "a day is as a thousand years" defense of Christ's delayed return
- like watching the early church explain itself to scoffers and second-generation doubters
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Depicted in Art
Christ floats in radiant white above Mount Tabor between Moses and Elijah; below, Peter, James, and John recoil with arms raised as a desperate crowd presses around a possessed boy.
Raphael, 1520
John stands at the front holding an open New Testament, reading the opening verses of his Gospel; Peter looks over his shoulder holding the golden key.
Albrecht Dürer, 1526
A bearded Peter in papal pallium holds the keys of the kingdom against his chest, gazing upward — the apostle as foundation of the Church.
Peter Paul Rubens, 1611
Christ hands two large keys to a kneeling Peter at the center of a vast paved piazza, the other apostles ranked beside them and a domed temple rising behind.
Pietro Perugino, 1482
Peter is being lifted onto the inverted cross by three executioners, his elderly body twisted, his face turned in pained dignity toward the viewer.
Guido Reni, 1605
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Notable Quotes
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
- John Calvin, Reformer & theologian, 1509–1564: "It has nothing unworthy of Peter, as it shews everywhere the power and the grace of an apostolic spirit."
- Jerome, Church Father & translator of the Vulgate, c. 347–420: Many doubt the second epistle of Peter because its style differs from the first — but Peter used different interpreters.
- Athanasius of Alexandria, Church Father & defender of Nicene orthodoxy, c. 296–373: Named both epistles of Peter among the canonical books — the fountains of salvation, to which none may add or subtract.
- Augustine of Hippo, Church Father & theologian, 354–430: Counted the two epistles of Peter among the canonical Scriptures whose authority the whole Church receives.
- Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter-day Saint movement, 1805–1844: "Peter penned the most sublime language of any of the apostles."