1

In 2 Pet 3:16:

As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction (KJV)

are the unlearned and unstable regenerated Christians?

Improve this question
5
  • It would also be helpful to examine what you mean by 'regenerated' in the context of 2 Peter (which probably wasn't written by Peter), as you may be reading a later soteriological concept anachronistically into this text otherwise (i.e. salvation as a binary state versus a process or other idea).
    – Dan
    Commented Jan 4, 2015 at 5:12
  • 1
    @Dan - "It would also be helpful to examine what you mean by 'regenerated' in the context of 2 Peter (which probably wasn't written by Peter)" - By having been regenerated I mean having become the partaker of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4)
    – brilliant
    Commented Jan 4, 2015 at 23:32
  • thanks for the clarification, and this is not a one-time event, as I'm sure you recognize, and so the answer could be yes and no.
    – Dan
    Commented Jan 5, 2015 at 4:13
  • @Dan - (1) "this is not a one-time event, as I'm sure you recognize" - The process of partaking is, of course, not a one-time event, but the very act of becoming a partaker, for sure, is. Simply put, the one who has become a partaker is the one who has started the process of partaking in his life, that is, has performed an act of partaking at least once in his life.
    – brilliant
    Commented Jan 5, 2015 at 5:20
  • @Dan - (2) Along these lines, I am also quite curious if the people that Peter is talking about in 2 Pet. 2:20 are also the ones that have partaken at least once in the past, that is, are the partakers: "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome..."
    – brilliant
    Commented Jan 5, 2015 at 5:22

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
1

2 Peter chapter 3 begins by referring to the scoffers asking why Jesus has not yet returned, although the early Christians had expected the return within their lifetimes. The apostle Paul was among those early Christians who believed that Jesus would return in his own lifetime - see for example, 1 Thessalonians 4:17:

“the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air.”

In 2 Peter 3:16, we discover that the author knows "all Paul's epistles," which confirms for New Testament scholars that this epistle was actually written long after Paul's death. Because the author has been talking about scoffers who asked why Jesus has not yet returned then, in this reference to Paul's epistles, he is still talking about the same scoffers. He is claiming that these pagan non-believers only scoff because they are unlearned and find Paul's epistles too hard to understand properly.

The scoffers could scarcely have been Christians, as we use the term, but pagans and perhaps Jews.

Improve this answer
4
  • Thank you for your answer. "...which confirms for New Testament scholars that this epistle was actually written long after Paul's death" - How does it confirm that the epistle was written long after Paul's death?! Why Paul could not have still been alive while Peter was writing this epistle?
    – brilliant
    Commented Jan 4, 2015 at 2:57
  • 1
    @brilliant Of course, I only said that this one one piece of information that "confirms" what scholars believe they already knew from hermeneutics - that Peter was not the real author, and that the epistle was written long after the apostolic era. Here, the author's assertion that he knew "all" Paul's epistles is seen as meaning that he knew there would be no more written. Also, Jesus not having returned could not have been an issue until after Paul died, because until then (and perhaps a generation afterwards) there was not yet an expectation of Jesus' return.
    – Dick Harfield
    Commented Jan 4, 2015 at 4:33
  • I don't know, maybe it's clearer in Greek, but where does the author assets that he knows all Paul's epistles?! At least, the KJV rendering of that verse (quoted in my question) doesn't assert that at all!
    – brilliant
    Commented Jan 4, 2015 at 10:36
  • @brilliant 2 Pet 3:16 (KJV): "As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things ..." Perhaps this could in isolation be read with a different nuance, but in the context of pagans scoffing because Jesus had still not returned, it at least "confirms" all the other hermeneutical evidence of authorship by an anonymous author long after the death of Paul.
    – Dick Harfield
    Commented Jan 4, 2015 at 19:54
1

The issue of "regeneration" παλινγενεσίας (palingenesias), is not the issue in this passage; the fact that they are "unlearned and unstable" is not a determinant of the whether or not they have been "washed in the water of regeneration"(Tit. 3:5).

Rather, as 1 Pet. 2:3,

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

We all start out as "new born babes", naturally. or spiritually. Those that "grow in the sincere milk of the word" mature, those that don't remain "unlearned and unstable", failing to heed proper warning and "

many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.(2 Pet. 2:2)

Here, Peter is speaking of false prophets who have subverted the flock. Nicolas, a deacon anointed in Acts 6:5, later became the leader of the Nicolaitans, a sect condemned by Jesus in Rev. 2:6, who "

were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."(Jude 1:4)

Paul's message of grace, or God's unmerited favor, can easily be interpreted as license by unlearned and unstable men; Paul himself states this in Rom. 6:15,

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid!

and Peter merely reminds his readers to read the whole counsel of Paul's epistles, and not stumble on one particular point.

It is clear that Peter was "alive and well" and had read Paul's epistles, maybe not all of them, but all that he had written to date, therefore the argument that an anonymous writer wrote 2 Pet. is specious, unless further evidence can be presented that 2 Pet. was not written by the apostle.

Improve this answer
4
  • "The issue of "regeneration" παλινγενεσίας (palingenesias), is not the issue in this passage" - What if we looked at this issue in the way of "being regenerated = being the one who has partaken of God's divine nature at least once in his lifetime" (see my replies to Dan's comment right below my question for detailes). So, could these unlearned and unstable ones in 2 Pet 3:16 be from among those who have at least once partaken of the divine nature of God mentioned in 2 Pet. 1:4?
    – brilliant
    Commented Jan 11, 2015 at 13:45
  • @brilliant This issue of regeneration of course is a theological one, which depends on what theological tradition you hold(Calvinist, Arminian, Orthodox, etc., will give you a variety of answers. I used Tit. 2:5, which in ref. to John 3:5(water and the Spirit) describes regeneration. The point being: one can be unlearned and unstable, and still be regenerated. I quoted 1 Pet. 2:3, which is a verse for regenerated, not unregenerated. Rom. 12:1-2 says basically the same thing, to believers, not to unregenerated. But your theological tradition will tell you who is or isn't regenerated.
    – Tau
    Commented Jan 12, 2015 at 8:57
  • I understand that, but still... is it possible to stay only within the context of 2nd Peter and - regardless of any tradition - try to infer from the text whether or not the author includes the unlearned and unstable ones in 2 Pet 3:16 in the number of those he had mentioned earlier in 1:4? Or is it an impossible task?
    – brilliant
    Commented Jan 12, 2015 at 9:30
  • @brilliant The 2 Pet. 3:14-18 section could almost be viewed as another paragraph, although it ties in with the previous one. His admonishment in vs 17 is "...not to fall from your own steadfastness" is clearly to those who are 'regenerate', hence the context of vs 16 would be the same.
    – Tau
    Commented Jan 12, 2015 at 9:50
1

Are the unlearned and unstable in 2 Pet 3:16 regenerated Christians?

2 Peter 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

I think Dick Harfield is correct about a response to scoffers being the context.

The context is one where Peter is describing those who twist the words of Paul. He speaks of their "destruction" = apōleia = ruin and loss, perdition, destruction, and waste.

Peter uses the two words;

unlearned = amathēs = ignorant, stupid, without knowledge of a thing, unlearned unstable = astēriktos = unfixed, vacillating, and weak

The sense one gets from Peter is that he has disgust with those twist the words of Paul.

There is another use of the word unlearned used by Paul;

1 Corinthians 14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

unlearned = idiōtēs = originally a private person, then one who could not participate in the polis presumably due to limitation or inability.

The word "idiotes" did not carry the insult it does today and was a kinder word for someone of limited abilities.

Peter's use of "amathes" carries with it a sharpness that would further support the view that he is not talking about those he would consider brothers in Christ.

Improve this answer
0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.