Will Vaus

AUTHOR   In considering the authorship of this letter there are three points of internal evidence to take note of. First, the author of this letter identifies himself as Simon Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, in the very first verse.    Secondly, in 2 Peter 1:16-18 the author says,   For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power,   but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.   He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”   We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.   Thus, the author of this letter claims to be an eyewitness of the transfiguration of Jesus.    Thirdly, in 2 Peter 3:1, the author refers to this as his second letter, suggesting a connection between this letter and 1 Peter.   In...

This was a sermon preached at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Forest, Virginia, on the occasion of the church's two-hundredth anniversary and in remembrance of one of their former members, Sheldon Vanauken... Years ago, motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar said,  “It is your attitude, more than your aptitude, that will determine your altitude.” I believe that is true.   I know from flying with my father as the pilot of a small plane that the attitude of the nose on a plane determines the altitude of that plane. Just so in life, our inner attitude determines how high we fly.   The big question posed by our Gospel text for today is:  what is our attitude toward others?  Listen for God’s word to you from Mark 9:38-50….   John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone  casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”  But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soo...

 Ruins near Peter's House in Capernaum AUTHOR   The author of this letter identifies himself as “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ”. This letter was universally accepted in the early church as written by Peter, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus.   However, Peter’s authorship of this letter has been questioned by modern scholars. One point at issue is the fact that this letter appears to contain a quality of Greek writing that would seem to be beyond the capacity of a Galilean fisherman. This may be explained by what Peter says in 1 Peter 5:12, namely that he wrote this letter “with the help of Silas”.   Some scholars claim that this letter reflects the persecution under the reign of Domitian, long after Peter’s death. However, what Peter says about persecution in this letter could just as easily be a description of the suffering of Christians under Nero.    DATE   If the Apostle Peter is indeed the author of this letter, then the most likely date of...