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Peter proclaims that he is a servant of Christ like the rest of us and\nmakes a very explicit statement that Jesus is the God and Savior which\nis not as common in the Gospels as more oblique references. He then\nturns to his theme for this letter, which is that knowledge of God is\nnot enough; we must also act on it. No addressee is named, and the\ntraditional thanksgiving prayer is omitted from this letter. This may\nmean that this was written for multiple audiences toward the end of\nPeter's life as the persecution was being stepped up.
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\nPeter then notes that divine power has assigned to them all things\nrelated to eternal life and godliness and by this we may escape our\npassions and partake in the divine nature, a form of apotheosis. Peter\nthen sets up a series of supports for faith that build upon each other:\nvirtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly\naffection, and love.
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\nThis is a map for spiritual progress and we must keep moving forward on\nit, or risk our faith mutating into something else and the way Peter\ndiscusses this indicates that this was a well-known formula in first\ncentury Christianity.
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\nPeter then recounts the events of Christ's baptism and transfiguration\nto show that they have been eyewitnesses to His majesty as evidence\nthat these stories are not myths but rather a message like a bright\nlight shining in a dark place.
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\nNo prophecy of Scripture, Peter then compels us to understand, came from human will, but rather from the Holy Spirit.
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\nPeter ends with a discussion of the coming of Christ, which is more\ncharacteristic of the early Church than the modern Church. This more\npilgrim Church should serve as the sort of bright light that Peter\nmentions in the first chapter, and we would do well to follow this\nexample in the modern Church.

The closing theme is Gerard Satamian's Chansons Sans Paroles Op. 2 Pastorale, from the album Dry Fig Trees. www.magnatune.com