Is Peter the true Author of 1 and 2 Peter?

Did Peter Write 1 and 2 Peter?

Who is Simon Peter?

Simon Peter was one of the original twelve apostles called by Jesus Christ.  He became a strong leader in the early church. In Matthew 16:18 was referred to by Jesus as a "rock."  Peter was a Galilean fisherman who along with his brother Andrew became an apostle of Jesus Christ.          1 Peter and 2 Peter carry his namesake however there is a question among scholars if Peter was truly the author of 1 Peter.

Arguments that Peter is not the Author

To consider whether or not Peter wrote the book of 1 Peter one can first return to his initial call from Jesus.  He was called while out on the water fishing.  Fishermen are not known for their intellect: not to say he was not an intellectual.   If we read in Acts 4:13 however he was acknowledged by the crowd as an "unlearned" man.  Eric Eve makes a valid argument against the author being Peter because of its literary content and how it was written.  It would be difficult for an unlearned fisherman to have a command of the Greek writing of that period.

A second opinion that reflects doubt in Peter being the true author of 1 Peter comes from the observation of E.G. Selwyn who used a parallel between 1 Peter and 1 & 2 Thessalonians to substantiate a belief that Peter's authorship came from an indirect source.  This source named by Selwyn was Sylvanus, a traveling companion of Paul's.  This insinuates that Peter was not written by Peter but influenced by the secretary who was transcribing it.   Chiming in on a similar belief is Daniel Wallace.  He believed that Peter may have had an anonymous scribe writing for him but his suggestion was not Silvanus but Luke, another traveling companion of Paul's.

A third point brought out by Paul J. Achtemeier is that there is a lack of references to the life of Jesus.  According to Achtemeier, one would expect to hear more about the personal experience of walking with Jesus from someone who actually walked with him.  He points out the use of first and second person writing when it should have been consistent with just the first person if Peter was the author.  It is believable that if a person was writing they would speak from a personal perspective while if someone is relaying an experience or idea of someone else they would not speak in the first person. 

Argument that Peter is the author of 1 Peter

The first support that Peter is the author of 1 Peter comes from 1 Peter 1:1 where he states that this is Peter and a letter from himself.  Michael J. Krueger states that scholars and theologians are now just accepting the case of pseudepigraphy of the books attributed to Peter.  This acceptance however does not constitute fact or truth. 

https://youtu.be/OGaj4j_az98

Conclusion

Authenticity demands a great deal. When dealing with scriptures and years of revisions, this authenticity is even harder to obtain.  Because the Bible is a spiritual, a great deal of its acceptance comes from simple belief. The answer to whether Peter wrote this book is more than just a simple yes or no.  As we have studied about variants, the question is whether this variant is crucial to believing. For instance, the argument that it is written in first person or second person is not crucial to the event taking place or the statement being true.  It is a variant but it is not a discrediting variant.