What are we to make of Peter’s relentless attack on false teachers? His words are full of invective as he describes their sinful motives and the judgment that awaits them. Peter holds nothing back. The vomit and the mud with which the chapter concludes (vs. 22) is fitting with the rest of what the apostle has to say about the false teachers. He describes them as being driven by greed and enticing those under their sway into sexual licentiousness. Later he expresses his indignation by comparing them to “irrational animals” and “creatures of instinct,” having no shame, looking only to satisfy their lusts in broad daylight (vv. 12-13). Summarizing Peter’s account of the lives and teaching of these men, one commentator writes: “Their teaching was flattery; their ambitions were financial; their lives were dissolute; their conscience was dulled, and their aim was deception” (Green, 105).

Peter’s approach conflicts sharply with Paul’s treatment of the pagan philosophers in Athens with whom he spoke to respectfully, seeking to persuade them. Writing to Timothy, Paul wrote that “the Lord’s servant” should go about “correcting his opponents with gentleness” (2 Timothy 2:22-26). So what are we to do with Peter’s unabashedly aggressive approach? The key is found in his opening salvo in verse one “There will be false teachers among you…” Peter was not addressing pagan philosophers in Athens. He was dealing with those within the church; teachers who claimed to be Christians – in some cases apostles! – who taught such twisted doctrine and led such ungodly lives that they were leading undiscerning Christians into their own falsehood and debauchery.

It was the proximity and influence of these false teachers within the church that explains the difference we see between Paul in Athens and Peter writing to the churches. Remember Paul’s words concerning those who teach a false gospel to the church? He said that they are damned (Galatians 1:6-9). That’s not exactly subtle. Nor should there be much subtlety or nuance when the shepherds of God’s flock encounter wolves who would lead the church down the path of destruction. “Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep” (vs. 3).