Sometimes the motive is deception, but quite frequently the motive is sincere tribute and the desire to carry on or to preserve the teaching of a revered figure. We might remember here the example of Pythagoras—the philosopher who never wrote a word but who was the attributed author of many books because his disciples wrote down his teaching in his name. The motive for pseudonymity in 2 Peter would be of the purer sort—the attempt to bring the apostolic warnings about false teachers to bear on a