ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Authorship of the Petrine epistles

Okay, let's talk about the Petrine Epistles! The Petrine Epistles are two letters in the Bible, written by someone named Peter. But some people are not sure if Peter really wrote them.

It's like if a kid wrote a letter to his teacher, and someone else found it and said they wrote it. How would the teacher know who really wrote the letter?

That's what scholars are trying to figure out with the Petrine Epistles. They look at things like the language and writing style, and compare it to other things that Peter is known to have written.

Some people think that Peter definitely wrote the letters, while others think that someone else wrote them and just used Peter's name.

It's like if someone pretended to be you and wrote a letter to your teacher. Even if they signed your name at the end, it wouldn't be proof that you actually wrote it.

So, scholars are still debating who wrote the Petrine Epistles. But no matter who wrote them, they are still an important part of the Bible!