Patrick Chatelion Counet. Pseudepigraphy and The Petrine School: Spirit and Tradition in 1 and 2 Peter and Jude
Patrick Chatelion Counet. Pseudepigraphy and The Petrine School: Spirit and Tradition in 1 and 2 Peter and Jude
Abstract
This article identifies four patterns of religion (E P Sanders) in the
pseudepigraphic letters of Peter and Jude in order to support the
hypothesis of a Petrine school (J H Elliott). The first pattern that
connects the letters is a Geisttradition (K Aland), guaranteeing
continuity of tradition. The second is the interrelationship between
faith and ethics (fides quae and fides qua). The combination of
sanctification and eschatology is a third pattern connecting the
three documents. Finally, two florilegia can be identified (one from
the Old Testament and apocrypha, and one from the chokmatic
tradition), suggesting a fourth pattern: a warning against
ungodliness and infidelity. The existence of a Petrine group could
represent a preliminary stage of subsequent Early Catholicism.
1.
INTRODUCTION
Dr Patrick Chatelion Counet (PhD in Biblical Theology), lecturer of the New Testament at the
Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands), is a research associate of Prof Dr Andries
G van Aarde, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria.
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2.
Until recently scholars were quick to assert that pseudepigraphy had nothing
to do with fraud or the spuriousness of documents but was a commonly
accepted phenomenon: their recipients recognised them as written in the style
and the spirit of those purporting to be the authors (Harrison 1921:12). The
current debate on pseudepigraphy also raises the issue of deliberate forgeries
(Brox 1975:21-24). Donelson (1986:16) refers to deceptive pseudepigraphy:
in Christian circles pseudonimity was considered a dishonorable device and if
discovered, the document was rejected and the author, if known, was
excoriated.
With the emergence of the great libraries of antiquity came a need for
documents by famous authors and a strong temptation to produce forgeries.
Religious pseudepigrapha were an exception; they were not meant to deceive
but were looking for authority (Speyer 1977:195-263). Metzger (1972)
identifies eight motives, three of which are negative (financial gain, pure
malice, forgery), two are positive (love and respect to honour a revered
teacher or school, modesty), and three are neutral (dramatic motives
[speeches attributed to orators], accidents in copying, and anonymous
writings attributed to important figures in antiquity).
The pseudepigraphic writings in the New Testament are mainly letters.
No doubt the pursuit of authority was part of the motive for 1 and 2 Peter and
Jude.
Another important insight in current research into pseudepigraphy is
the influence of schools (Donalson 1986:10f and 23-42). In the case of New
Testament pseudepigrapha it is usually assumed that a single (unknown)
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author was responsible for both the contents of the letter and the choice of a
pseudepigraphic title. Even Aland (1980:132), writing about a Geisttradition,
assumes that the Geist resided in the mind and the pen of a single author. On
the other hand one should ask oneself whether the responsibility of signing
letters pseudepigraphically with prominent names such as Peter, Paul,
James, Jude did not in fact require a broader base. Maybe one should
actually turn the question around: maybe there could be no pseudepigraphy
without the legitimation of a community, group or school. In the case of literary
(nonreligious) pseudepigrapha there is a far earlier assumption that these
were school productions as a literary exercise to learn to write in the style of
the Pythagoreans, Cynics, Stoics or Neo-Platonists (Speyer 1977:201ff).
Armin Baum refers to Apostelschulen; to indicate the pseudepigraphic
authorship of the documents produced by these schools Baum uses the
Hebrew concept of corporate personality a single prophet or writer acting
on behalf of a whole community. He borrows this concept of a corporate
personality from D Russell and H Robinson.(Baum 2001:61ff and 65-68).
Considering the catholic nature of the two Petrine letters and that of
Jude their intention to address all Christians (Bigg [1901] 1987:1) there is
some reason to assume that the pseudepigraphic choice was supported by
communal legitimation. It is hardly conceivable that the name of Peter or Jude
could be attached to a letter arbitrarily. The catholic nature of the letters is
evident partly in the universal salutations 1 Peter 1:1, while addressing large
parts of Asia Minor, is still the most specific, 2 Peter 1:1 is addressed to those
who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours, and Jude 2 to those
who are called but also and more particularly in the contents and structure
of the letters. Charles Bigg already remarked about Jude: His tone is that of a
bishop of the fourth century men who used such phrases believed
passionately in a creed (Bigg [1901] 1987:325). To my mind his comment
applies equally to the two Petrine letters. The way all three these letters stress
tradition and Scripture, with reminders of the prophets, of a faith handed down
over many generations, of the inspiration of great men also in regard to
exegesis leads one to assume a central doctrinal authority. The concern is
to uphold a common scriptural and exegetic tradition.
Initially this centre was in Jerusalem (see Ac 15; Gl 1:18f) where
James, Cephas and John were the pillars (Gl 2:9). As Paul describes in
Galatians 2:12, they had certain men, their fellow workers, who visited other
congregations. This centre most probably had its counterparts in Antioch,
Rome, possibly in Alexandria as well; nowadays it is almost undisputed that
the Johannine congregation in Ephesus was such a centre (Brown 1979:67;
Van Tilborg 1996:3f). These centres maintained contact with each other, as
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405
witness Acts 15:22-32. Here we are told how it seemed good, with the whole
church (su;n o{lh/ th:/ ejkklhsiva/) to send emissaries from Jerusalem eijV
jAntiovceian with a letter (gravyanteV). Probably these centres advised each
other on the content, theology and possible pseudonimity of documents.
When it comes to this phenomenon current exegesis too readily
assumes that these were one-author efforts. It overlooks the fact that even the
authentic Pauline letters were all written in conjunction with fellow workers and
friends.1 Paul used, if not a church or a school, at least a gathering or thinktank. Schmidt argues that being co-signatories to letters is not the same as
co-authorship (Schmidt 2003:55-60). Partly for this reason it seems justified to
regard the pseudepigraphic documents 1 and 2 Peter and Jude as communal
efforts at any rate in the sense that they were written at the behest of
missionaries, presbyters or other congregational representatives. In this sense
as early as Brox (1975:111f), who toyed with the notion of Schule in regard
to the figure of Peter: die urchristliche Falsa der Name [war] durch
konkrete Traditionszusammenhnge einer bestimmten Theologie, eines
kirchlichen Milieus mit einer individuellen historischen (apostolischen) Gestalt
festgelegt.
The writers may have availed themselves of congregational meetings
in their church (considering 1 Pt 5:13, probably Rome), who legitimised the
contents and pseudepigraphic choice of the letter. That would mean that the
first readers of 1 and 2 Peter and Jude were not the recipient congregations,
but the community (Rome) where the authors had their Sitz im Leben. There
is growing consensus that this congregation should be referred to as the
Petrine school (see section 2).
What Aland calls a Geisttradition and the question under
consideration in this article is whether the Petrine school had such a tradition
is termed pattern of religion by E P Sanders. By this he means [t]he
description of how a religion is perceived by its adherents to function of
how getting in and staying in are understood () it includes the logical
beginning-point of the religious life as well as its end, and it includes the steps
in between (Sanders 1977:17). The patterns of thought and understanding
that link the three letters and form the basis of a Petrine school are the
following:
Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians with Silvanus and Timothy (1 Th 1:1), 1 Corinthians with
Sosthenes (1 Cor 1:1), 2 Corinthians with Timothy (2 Cor 1:1), Philippians again with Timothy
(Phlp 1:1), Galatians with all the brethren who are with me (Gl 1:2; also see 6:11), and even
the short letter to Philemon is legitimised by Timothy as co-author (Phlm 1:1). The sole
exception is Romans, although here, too, Paul refers to Timothy, my fellow worker and
Tertius refers to himself as the (actual) writer (Rm 16:21f).
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florilegium (A): paradigms from the Old Testament and the apocrypha
of infidelity and apostasy, ajsevbeia (passim);
florilegium (B): lists of quotations from the chokmatic tradition (passim).
If one wants to assign Jude and Peter a historical role in this church, it would
be that of ghostwriters or implied authors rather than actual writers. Bauckham
(1983:161) states that the sense in which 1 and 2 Peter both derive from a
Petrine circle can only be that both were sent out by the leaders of the
Roman church, who regarded Peter as their most authoritative member,
present or past.
Quite conceivably 1 Peter was written during Peters lifetime. Schreiner
(2003:35), who, after weighing all the arguments, concludes that there were
no decisive grounds for rejecting Petrine authorship of 1 Peter. The
arguments for and against Petrine authorship regarding (1) linguistics, style,
vocabulary; (2) historical context; and (3) thought world of 1 Peter are
summarised in virtually all commentaries. Skaggs suggests that the suffering
mentioned in 1 Peter possibly refers to people who fled from Neros
persecution, having lost relatives and/or friends (Skaggs 2004:7).2 2 Peter has
the tone of a testament and may have been written shortly after his death.
Many commentators date Jude before Peter.
The similarities between Jude and 2 Peter are particularly striking.
Current consensus is that 2 Peter made use of Jude,3 but hardly anybody
adequately explains the differences between the two. Possibly both letters
used an Aramaic or Hebrew (oral or written) Vorlage of florilegia, an anthology
of infidelity, apostasy and ajsevbeia. Snyder (1986:22) suggests the existence
of a common source on which both epistles drew, either oral or written,
designed to meet the needs of local communities which were facing various
types of heresies and false teachers. A similar suggestion was made earlier
by C Spicq. According to Spicq (1966:197), nos deux auteurs sinspirent,
indpendamment lun de lautre, dun document original, de Testimonia antihrtiques; see also Schreiner (2003:418). The authors of Jude and Peter
translated and edited this report, in which process both occasionally lapsed
2
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into Semiticisms. Those who assign Jude priority will have to explain why 2
Peter 2:12 distorts the pure Greek in Jude 10, ejn touvtoiV fqeivrontai, into a
Semiticism, ejn th:/ fqora:/ aujtwn kai; fqarhvsontai (cf Callan 2004:55) who
ignores the Semiticisms which he calls examples of paronomasia).
A Vorlage (in the form of a florilegium) would explain the thematic
resemblances as well as the differences in vocabulary and terminology, such
as the Semiticisms. Members of the same community could have used the
same sources (florilegia) in different ways. The similarities display patterns of
religion (Sanders), but the differences show that the authors, while using the
same sources, were not copying each other.
3.
Ethelbert Stauffer was one of the first exegetes to speak of a Petrine circle
(Petruskreis). According to him Marks gospel, the archetypal form (Urgestalt)
of the passion narrative, Peters discourses in Acts 1-12 and his first letter all
derive from this Petrine circle in Rome (Stauffer 1948:17-19). This notion
resurfaced in the 1970s in the work of Ernest Best (1971:59-63), who
suggests that the origin of 1 Peter lies in a school of disciples, the Petrine
school.
These somewhat random references were first taken up seriously by
John Elliott, who likewise assumed the existence of a Petrine school or group:
1 Peter is not only a testament to the Petrine legacy but also an expression of
the theology of the Roman church of which Peter was a leading figure.4
Marion Soards (1988:3827-3849) expanded the Petrine output from 1 Peter to
2 Peter and Jude. Richard Bauckham (1983:161) confines the notion of a
Petrine school to a Petrine circle in the loose sense of a group of working
associates, including a good deal of theological diversity. This hypothesis is
gaining increasing support,5 but also has its critics.6 David Horrell (2002:32)
considers the letters too different to surmise a common underlying source or
school. This is the only argument that Horrell adduces; for the rest he invokes
mainly the (old) hypothesis of a Pauline and general early Christian influence
on the various authors of the letters of Peter and Jude.
The hypothesis maintains that 1 and 2 Peter and Jude are products of
a Petrine tradition, the Petrine school, a group of authors comparable to the
Johannine school that produced Johns gospel and letters and the book of
4
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Revelation. The next step would be to place Jamess letter in this framework.
One of the common denominators between 1 and 2 Peter and Jude to be
explained below is the use of wisdom literature; for the influence of wisdom
literature on James, see Bauckham (1999).
Elliott (1980:253) believes that Peter, like Paul and others, operated in
groups or teams. At all events, the Petrine group included a Silvanus, a Mark
and a Christian sister (1 Pt 5:12-13). If, like Bauckham, we take group to
be a loose circle, one could assume that it included the historical figure of
Jude. Here one thinks of the Jude in Acts 15:22 and 27. Silvanus (Silas) and
Jude are called leading men (ajn
v draV hJgoumevnouV) and profh:tai (Ac
15:22.32). On behalf of the entire church of Jerusalem (su;n oJl
v h/ th/: ejkklhsiva,/
Ac 15:22) they deliver a letter to the church in Antioch. What arguments are
there against identifying this Jude as the brother of James or of the Lord
(hence the one to whom the pseudepigraphic title of Jude 1 refers)? The main
objection appears to be that this identification would have been explicitly
mentioned in Acts (Grundmann 1974:13f). Besides, it is argued, Jude is called
Barsabbas (Skaggs 2004:148f). The arguments are not convincing. Firstly,
James, too, is not called the Lords brother anywhere in Acts (cf Ac 12:17;
15:13; 21:18), yet nobody doubts it in view of his position and the relation to
Gl 1:19. Hence the same could apply to Jude, both a prophet and a leader.
Secondly, Barsabbas is not a surname but simply means son of the
Sabbath; or even, if one reads Barsabas, son of an old man. That is quite
appropriate for Jesus youngest brother (see Mt 13:15).
According to Elliott, the theological views of figures like Silvanus and
Mark only become socially relevant if they worked in a group. Soards
(1988:3828) presents four arguments for the view that 1 Peter, 2 Peter and
Jude are best seen collectively and in association with this community.
I want to endorse and extend them as follows:
the literary similarities and differences between the documents are best
explained by assuming several authors from the same community; in
particular it explains the interest in the same (sometimes specified)
apocryphal texts, the same biblical paradigms such as the Noah
tradition, and the preference for the book of Proverbs;
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4.
the three texts all have a liturgical basis in 1 Peter baptism, and in 2
Peter and Jude the homily;
The concern to ensure the continuity of the tradition is the central theme of all
three letters. It is most evident in 2 Peter and Jude, but is no less focal in 1
Peter. The aim of 1 Peter, as revealed in the conclusion to the letter, is to
declare the true grace of God, ejpimarturw:n tauvthn ei\nai ajlhqh: cavrin tou:
qeou: (1 Pt 5:12). Tradition plays a major role in this because, so the authors
tell their readers, the prophets already prophesied the grace that was to be
yours, profh:tai oiJ peri; th:V eijV uJma:V cavritoV profhteuvsanteV (1 Pt 1:10).
The line of this tradition runs via the prophets to those who preached the good
news to you through the Holy Spirit, dia; tw:n euvaggelisamevnwn uJma:V ejn
pneuvmati aJgivw/ (1 Pt 1:12). Hence 1 Peter defines tradition as Geisttradition.
This relates directly to the concerns and aims of 2 Peter and Jude. In
several places they emphasise their concern to remind their readers of
something to which they should cling. To this end they use the verbs
uJpomimnhvs
/ kein (2 Pt 1:12; Jude 5) and mnhsqh:nai (2 Pt 3:2; Jude 17). In
addition 2 Peter uses the noun uJpovmnhsiV (2 Pt 1:13; 3:1). Reminding and
reminder function as a pattern of religion. Another link between 1 Peter and 2
Peter is the notion of truth. Truth is something that comes from the past, from
tradition. It is not something one can tamper with in the present or can handle
as one pleases. One has to be reminded of it, although one already knows
(eijdovtaV) it and lives in it cf the connection between reminding and truth in 2
Pt 1:12 (uJpomimnhv/skein ejn th:/ parouvsh/ ajlhqeiva/ ) with that between
obedience and truth in 1 Pt 1:22 (ejn th:/ uJpakoh:/ th:V ajlhqeivaV).
All three documents emphasise the link with the past. Jude asks his
readers to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints,
toi:V aJgivoiV (Jd 3). Over against the aJgivoi he puts the yucikoiv pneu:ma mh;
e[conteV, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit (Jd 19). 2 Peter 1:17-21 points
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out the authority of the prophets, who predicted the Sons glorification. The
we in 2 Peter 1:19 is the apostolic we: we have gained even greater
respect for the prophets prophecies because we witnessed their fulfilment,
that is, the glorification of the Son. Therefore, the argument continues in 2
Peter 2:19ff (not logically, though it does reveal the authors concern), you
must stick to (prosevconteV) the prophecies and make a distinction between
those who give their own interpretation of the prophecies (ijdivaV ejpiluvsewV
givnetai) and those who do so by the Holy Spirit (uJpo; pneuvmatoV aJgivou).
Thus 2 Peter likewise has a Geisttradition (cf 2 Pt 1:21 with 1 Pt 1:12 ).
The ability to discern who is speaking in the Spirit (Geisttradition) is a
pattern of religion in Sanderss sense. It determines who are adherents of the
religion and who are not. At the same time the authors are claiming
competence to remind people of things and to interpret them. Anyone who
does not have the Spirit and cannot invoke tradition is ignorant and unstable:
these people, oi9 ajmaqei:V kai; ajsthvriktoi, distort Pauls letters and the other
scriptures (2 Pt 3:15f). here in 2 Peter 3:15 beginns, according to Schelkle
(1980:237), die rmisch-katholische Kirche im NT, deren Sulen und Lehrer
Petrus und Paulus als rmische Apostelfrsten sind.
Tradition and exegesis, the readers of 1 and 2 Peter and Jude are left
to conclude, are safe in the hands of those who have the Spirit, such as the
authors of these letters: Simon Peter and Jude, the brother of James.
5.
A special link between the three letters is the strong relation between faith
(doctrine, fides quae creditur) and conduct (ethics, fides qua creditur).
Analogous to the Hebrew twin concepts tma and dsx (cf Ps 40:12; 57:4), the
notions truth and righteousness are paired.
In 1 Peter ethics and faith are very much complementary. Household
codes or Haustafel are balanced against tradition and faith. This is already
anticipated in 1 Peter 3:16: (oiJ ejphreavzonteV ) uJmw:n th;n ajgaqhn; ejn Cristw/:
ajnastrofhvn:: (a) good behaviour and (b) being in Christ go together. Peter
uses the expression in Christ three times (3:16; 5:10; 5:14) and, except for
the Pauline letters, it occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Paul gives it
a mystical connotation of mutual indwelling (Christ in me, I in Christ; Gl 2:19ff).
To Peter this immanence implies a responsibility for Christians. The fact that
they live in Christ and the hope that is in [them] (1 Pt 3:15) are the main
arguments for the petitio (household codes) in this letter.
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This balance between behaviour and being in Christ reaches its acme
in 4:15-19, the crux of the recapitulation of 1 Peter. The judgment, to; krivma (1
Pt 4:17), is measured, we infer from this passage, according to two criteria:
an ethical criterion: 1 Peter 4:15f requires along with the many other
injunctions and lists of virtues (and vices) in 1 Peter 2:1-3:17 an
exemplary life, good behaviour in Christ (1 Pt 3:16);
a criterion of faith and trust: those who trust in God, in the name of
Jesus Christ, can be sure of grace; in 1 Peter 4:17 this criterion is
phrased negatively: tiv to; tevloV tw:n ajpeiqouvntwn tw/: tou: qeou:
eujaggelivw?/
The author of the letter concedes that this is a really tough criterion: ... [even]
the righteous man (oJ divkaioV) is scarcely saved (1 Pt 4:18). And where, he
continues dolefully with a quotation from Proverbs 11:31, will the impious (oJ
ajsebh;V, criterion of faith) and the sinner (oJ aJmartwlo;V, ethical criterion)
appear?
The two criteria are summed up in the last verse in this passage: people
should do right, ajgaqopoii=a,/ and entrust their souls to a faithful Creator,
pistw:/ ktivsth/ paratiqevsqwsan (1 Pt 4:19). In a sense this antithetical
argument epitomises the letter:
In 1 Peter the truth of faith (fides quae) is manifested only in the ethics of love
and forbearance (fides qua). It is no different in 2 Peter and Jude.
Remarkably, Peters second letter does not condemn false teachers
primarily on account of their Christological or theological views but on account
of their morality: their licentiousness and greed (2 Pt 2:2f). Peters accent on
morality rather than doctrine means that one should not be too quick to
identify the false teachers with gnostics. Libertines, antinomians, possibly
even epicureans are more likely (Neyrey 1993:122-128). Neyrey (1993:127f)
points out that the Hebrew word for scoffer (2 Pt 3:3; Jude 18), Apikoros,
appears to be related to the Greek Epicurian.
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This is the same balance between morality and doctrine (household codes
and faith) that we observe in 1 Peter.
We find the same relationship in Jude. According to Jude 3 the letter is
an exhortation to contend for the one faith delivered once for all to the saints,
a{pax pivstiV. This implies that the faith has existed since time immemorial:
it existed even before the saints, was delivered to them, and now those who
are called must defend it, ejpagwnivzesqai. Hence pivstiV relates to both an
activity, the believers believing (fides quae), and a doctrine, the faith that
existed from time immemorial (fides qua).
Doctrine concerns two issues, which encapsulate the substance of
Judes theology: faith in the only God and the salvation he brings through
Jesus Christ (Jd 4:25). This faith, this theology must be defended against
infiltrators (Schelkle 1980:151ff). Schelkle sees faith in Jude as doctrine or
content (fides quae). By contrast, M de Jonge (1966:19f) maintains that Jude
seeks to distinguish between genuine and false prophecy, analogous to
Matthewss behavioural criterion that a tree is known by its fruits (Mt 7:15-20);
the pneumatic infiltrators invoke the wrong kind of enthusiasm but come a
cropper because they do not live in the way the Lord requires (fides qua).
Both aspects the substance of faith (fides quae) and the concomitant
attitude (fides qua) are to be found in Judes letter. He insists on good
behaviour in addition to apologetics (ejpagwnivzesqai, Jude 3) this entails
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6.
6.1
Florilegia (A) Old Testament and apocrypha (ajpeiqei:n and ajsevbeia)
The letters of Peter and Jude contrast those who have the Spirit with
apostates and unbelievers. In this context 1 Peter prefers the expressions
ajpeiqei:n tw:/ lovgw/ (1 Pt 2:8; 3:1) and ajpeiqei:n tw:/ eujaggelivw/ (1 Pt 4:17). 2
Peter and Jude prefer the terms ajsebhvV and ajsevbeia (2 Pt 2:5, 6; 3:7; Jude 4,
15, 18; also see 1 Pt 4:18).
The most striking parallel is the use of the Noah story via 1 Enoch.
Jude makes no direct reference to the story of the flood but links up with
Enochs narrative about the angels who leave their proper dwelling (to\ i1 dion
oijkhthvrion) (cf Jude 6 with 1 En 12:4; 15:3), for which they are kept in
captivity till the day of judgment (cf Jude 6 with 1 En 10:6; 22:11f). Anyone
who compares 2 Peter 2:4 with Jude 6 and believes that the one was
copying the other must be surprised by the lack of similarities. If there is any
literary dependence at all, it is only through the agency of 1 Enoch. 2 Peter
2:4 collates parts of 1 Enoch 10:4f, 10:11-14 and 91:15. Also 1 Peter 3:19
appears to refer to 1 Enoch (especially 1 En 9:10, 10:11-15). However, the
verbal disparities between 1 and 2 Peter and Jude are too great to permit an
assumption of dependence between them. It seems more likely that each
author used passages from Enoch, making his own Greek translation. The
thesis that part of 1 Enoch was composed partially in Aramaic and partially
in Hebrew has to be considered probable (Isaac 1983:6).
That would mean that the Petrine school used (parts of) the book of
Enoch in an Aramaic or Hebrew version. In view of their concern, these
excerpts would have been mainly instances of infidelity and apostasy. Such
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excerpts, together with other Old Testament texts, might have formed a
florilegium of texts recording disobedience. Other candidates for this
florilegium would be examples of infidelity on the part of Cain, Balaam and
Korah, Israel in the wilderness, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah;
possibly also the texts from psalms and the prophetic books used in 1 Peter.7
These (partly oral) sources are used apologetically by the Petrine school to
counter opponents in its own ranks. The sources are reflected in the letters in
various ways, with differences in verbiage, individual emphases and with or
without Semiticisms.
Jude:
1. Israel in the wilderness (5)
2 Peter:
---------
5. Cain (11)
6. Balaam (11)
7. Korah (11)
1 Peter:
(once no people, now Gods
people; 2:10)
spirits in prison (3:19)
the flood (3:20f)
------------------------(evildoers; 3:12)
6.2
Florilegia (B) The chokmatic tradition
Another florilegium that the Petrine school might have used could be texts
from chokmatic literature, like Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom
of the Son of Sirach. A dominant theme in chokmatic literature is eschewing
the delusions of the ungodly, as spelled out at the outset (Prv 1:10; Sap 1:4;
Sir 1:21).8 In 1 and 2 Peter and Jude, too, the warning against the ungodly
7
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and the disobedient is a cohesive theme. The following table shows that
chokmatic texts feature explicitly in Peters and Judes letters:
Petrine
school
1 Pt 1:7
1 Pt 1:13
1 Pt 2:17
1 Pt 3:6
chokmatic
text
Prv 17:3
Prv 31:17
Prv 24:21
Prv 3:25
content
allusion/quotation
(testing of gold)
(gird up the loins/your mind)
(fear God and do not disobey the king)
(ouj fobhqhvsh/ ptovhsin)
allusion of words
allusion of words
allusion of ideas
allusion, nearly
quotation (from LXX)
1 Pt 4:8
Prv 10:12
quotation (translation
1 Pet 4:18
Prv 11:31
Prv 3:34
Sap 1:6
allusion of words
Sap 12:13
allusion of words
Sir 16:12
allusion/quotation
Jude 12
Jude 5
Jude 7
Prv 25:14
Sap 10:15ff
Sap 10:7f
allusion of words
allusion of ideas
allusion of ideas
Jude 10
Jude 11
Jude 13
Jude 25
2 Pt 2:21
2 Pt 2:22
Sap 11:15
Sap 10
Sap 14:1
Sir 1:1
Prv 21:16
Prv 26:11
2 Pt 2:2
2 Pt 2: 7
2 Pt 2:12
2 Pt 3:9
2 Pt 3:18
Sap 5:6
Sap 10:6
Sap 11:15
Sir 35:19
Sir 18:10
1 Pt 5:5
1 Pt 2:25
1 Pt 5:6
1 Pt 1:3
allusion of words
allusion of ideas
allusion of words
allusion of words
allusion of ideas
quotation (translation
from Hebrew)
allusion of ideas
allusion of ideas
allusion of words
allusion/quotation
allusion of words
The use of Proverbs in 1 Peter shows that the authors sometimes quote from
the Septuagint (1 Pt 4:18, 5:5) and sometimes translate the Hebrew text (1 Pt
4:8); see however Schelkle (1980:118). Probably the scroll was available in
both a Greek and a Hebrew version. It is by no means a foregone conclusion
that 1 Peter 3:6 is quoting Proverbs 3:35. Some scholars maintain that
Proverbs 3 played a major role in the early church (Selwyn 1946:408-09
[Table VIII A]; 413 and 435). The significance of this book in the Petrine letters
confirms this view.
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7.
Karl Hermann Schelkle (1980:241) hails 2 Peter als erster Versuch einer
Apologie der christlichen Eschatologie. If one takes apologia to mean trying
to persuade opponents in a debate, that is not altogether correct. The
addressees of the letter are not critics and opponents the scoffers
(ejmpai:ktai) of 2 Peter 3:3 but the authors own group. We find the same
ejmpai:ktai in Jude 18. Both Jude and 2 Peter place them in the last days: ejp)
ejscavtou tou: crovnou (Jd 18), ejp) ejscavtwn tw:n hJmerw:n (2 Pt 3:3). And
although Jude does not mention the parousia, it is clear from Jude 17f that
Christian eschatology is an object of derision. If this is an apologia, then it is
directed to the inner circle, not the outside world. The actions of the ejmpai:ktai
is a sign that the end-time was at hand. How exactly it would come about
HTS 62(2) 2006
417
8.
CONCLUSIONS
The hypothesis of a Petrine school assumes three groups: (a) the actual
authors and the implied authors or ghostwriters, like Peter and Jude, the
brother of James, (b) the community from which they are writing (probably
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Rome9) that consented to the use of the pseudepigraphic heading, and (c) the
communities to which they are writing. This results in the somewhat odd
impression that the authors are not primarily addressing distant churches, but
that their first concern is for their own community, from whom they had to
obtain permission to dispatch their letters under that title and with those
contents. This consent, the amendments and discussion of the contents in
congregational meetings make the letters communal products.
A major implication of this approach is that the documents can also be
regarded as a mirror of the situation of the senders. After all, if the first
readers were the members of their own congregation, then their situation
would play a special role. The ordeal referred to in 1 Peter 4:12, the false
teachers in 2 Peter 2:1 and the infiltrators in Jude 4 could correspond with
problems faced by the church in Rome in the sixties and seventies of the first
century. Because these were problems that one could imagine occurring in all
young churches the behaviour of yeudapovstoloi in the church of Corinth in
the fifties is an early example (2 Cor 11:13) the letters were copied and sent
to other churches.
The Petrine school developed ideas and conceptions that can be
described as patterns of religion. These patterns characteristic of Peters
and Judes letters and establishing an indissoluble link between them are
the following:
1.
the notion that the Spirit was active in tradition; a major implication of
this notion is that the new communities should turn their backs on
yeudodidavskaloi (2 Pt 2:1), yucikoiv pneu:ma mh; e[conteV (Jude 19) and
follow leaders who do have the Spirit (ejn pneuvmati aJgivw,/ 1 Pt 1:12; uJpo;
pneuvmatoV aJgivou, 2 Pt 1:21);
2.
the notion that truth and righteousness go together (fides quae and
fides qua);
3.
This is what the probably metaphorical Babylon in 1 Peter 5:13 indicates. Commenting on
2 Peter, Bauckham (1983:159) says that the letter can plausibly be set within the context of
the Roman churchs pastoral concerns for churches elsewhere during the late first century.
Many authors place Jude against a Palestinian background; however, the sometimes perfect
Greek, the Hellenistic influences and the prominent role of apocryphal texts could suggest a
non-Palestinian background. Gerdmars (2001:255-277) reversed heuristics leads him to find
all sorts of Hellenistic influences in Jude, but he nonetheless adheres to a Palestinian
background (Gerdmar 2001:311).
419
In addition there are various florilegia which the various authors used in their
respective ways. That explains not just the similarities between the letters, but
more especially the differences like the Semiticisms, the dissimilar use of
words and the different examples the authors made their own translations
and selection from the available documents. One florilegium could have
comprised texts from the Old Testament and the apocrypha (e g Enoch and
Assumptio Mosis) that contained instances of infidelity and ungodliness
(Tromp 2003:323-340). Tromp (2003:325) thinks that the words from Jude 9
ejpitimhvsai soi kuvrioV are certain to derive from the As. Mos. Here one has
to beware of a circular argumentation: from Jude 9 (and other texts) one
reconstructs the lost ending of the Assumptio Mosis from which Jude 9 is a
quotation. A second florilegium could have comprised texts from the
chokmatic tradition, like Proverbs, Wisdom of Solomon and the Wisdom of the
Son of Sirach. The two florilegia together reveal a single, clear pattern of
religion:
4.
the idea that ungodliness and infidelity are always lurking and should
be feared from within rather than from without.
Distancing themselves from these ungodly people and aware of the constant
danger of apostasy, the authors of the letters of Peter and Jude strengthen
their congregants consciousness that they are a community of saints living at
the end of time. The exhortation to the congregation to turn their backs on
yeudodidavskaloi (2 Pt 2:1), yucikoiv pneu:ma mh; e[conteV (Jude 19) and follow
persons who do have the Spirit could be seen as a catholic Roman concern. It
represents a stage preceding the early Catholicism (Frhkatholizismus) of
Christian documents from the post-apostolic period, which anticipated the
ideas of the 3rd and 4th century fathers. Early Catholicism has certain
features in common with the patterns of religion in 1 and 2 Peter and Jude
such as the notion of inspiration by the Holy Spirit and a centralised doctrinal
authority but it also has attributes that rarely if ever feature in these letters,
such as the idea of a canon, the doctrine of the sacraments, the perception of
the priesthood as a function of salvation, and especially the abandonment of
eschatology as the focus of faith (Fornberg 1977:3f). Schelkle (1963:225-232)
and Ksemann (1967:214-223) refer, specifically in regard to 2 Peter and
Jude, to a sptapostolisches Zeugnis des Frhkatholizismus. One can argue
about the dating of the letters,10 but because 1 and 2 Peter and Jude do not
10
There appears to be consensus on a dating of 2 Peter and Jude at the end of the 1st
century or the early 2nd century, but judging by repeated attempts at an earlier dating no
argument appears to be conclusive; for recent early datings (Van Houwelingen 1993; Skaggs
2004; Brosend 2004).
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display all the features of early Catholicism at any rate not cardinal ones like
the abandonment of eschatology as the focus of faith11 they should be dated
earlier than the post-apostolic documents. This is counter to Knochs
somewhat ambivalent position in his article Gab es eine Petrusschule in
Rom?. On the one hand Knoch (1991:125) considers the Petrine school in
Rome to be the centre of the church: Als Paulus dort ankommt,
wahrscheinlich 60/61 n.Chr., ist die Gesamtgemeinde nach dem Vorbild
Palstinas grokirchlich-petrinisch geprgt. On the other hand he thinks that
Peters letters are post-apostolic; the Petrine school verstand sich als
Anwalt der apostolischen Glaubensberlieferung, der Einheit und des Lebens
der Kirche im Kampf gegen Verfolgung und Irrlehre (Knoch 1991:123 and
126).
Between AD 60 and 90 there were various centres that sought to
influence the Christian churches by way of letters and other documents. The
Petrine school in Rome stood alongside, not above other schools like the
Johannine community in Ephesus and the deutero-Pauline schools in Antioch
and elsewhere.
In the first century there was as yet no question of any effective
centralisation of the faith and doctrinal authority, though there were attempts
at both.
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