Apocalyptic rhetoric and social context: A socio‑rhetorical analysis of 2 Peter and the Apocalypse of Peter

Abstract

This article examines how apocalyptic rhetoric in the Second Epistle of Peter (2 Peter) and the Apocalypse of Peter is mobilized to address crises in early Christian communities. Reading both texts through socio‑rhetorical criticism, it traces how ethos, logos, and pathos serve legitimation, boundary‑drawing, identity formation, and norm enforcement. In 2 Peter, the delayed Parousia is interpreted as divine patience: this move defends apostolic tradition, delegitimizes rival teachers, and disciplines communal time by framing “waiting” as an ethical practice. In the Apocalypse of Peter, visionary depictions of punishment and reward console the suffering and deter accommodation, while the motif of intercession for the damned complicates retributive imagination with mercy. The comparison argues that Petrine apocalyptic discourse functions as practical theology. It stabilizes communities in crisis by shaping authority, collective memory, communal affect, and moral imagination.