06_Biblica_1_D_Callan_Layout 1 05/11/12 12:20 Pagina 434 434 TERRANCE CALLAN Another peculiarity of 2 Peter in P72 that may express the identifi- cation of Jesus as God is the use of di ou (through whom) at the be- ginning of 1,12 rather than dio (therefore) as in the likely original text. In the latter, 1,12 states the conclusion from the preceding argument – because of its importance, the author will always remind the ad- dressees about what he has just said. The text in P72 says instead that the author will remind the addressees through “our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.” The phrase “through Jesus Christ” and its equivalents are rather common in the letters of Paul. For example, in Rom 1,8; 7,25 Paul gives thanks to God through Jesus Christ (cf. also Rom 16,27). A closer parallel is provided by Paul’s statement in Rom 15,30 that he exhorts the addressees through our Lord Jesus Christ. In itself this language does not necessarily imply the divinity of Christ; in the letters of Paul it is one aspect of Paul’s central idea that to be a Chris- tian is to exist in union with Christ. However, apart from such a con- text, as in 2 Peter, the idea that the author of 2 Peter acts through Christ can easily be seen as expressing an understanding of Christ as divine. b) Salvation from desire Other peculiarities of 2 Peter in P72 suggest that humans need to be saved from desire, while the likely original text sees them as need- ing salvation from corruption. In 1,4 P72 speaks of having escaped thn en tw kosmw epeiqumian fqoran (the desire in the world that is cor- ruption) rather than thj en tw kosmw en epiqumia fqoraj (the cor- ruption in the world by desire) as in the likely original text. The text in P72 says that one needs salvation from desire, which is corruption, while the likely original text says that one needs salvation from cor- ruption, which results from desire. In the probable original text of 2 Peter, corruption is understood both literally as meaning physical de- struction/disintegration and metaphorically as meaning spiritual de- struction/disintegration. Metaphorical corruption leads to literal corruption 16. By speaking of desire as corruption in 2 Peter 1,4 the text of P72 conceives corruption in purely metaphorical terms and as consisting of desire. Perhaps that same understanding of corruption should be seen throughout 2 Peter in P72. 16 On this see T. CALLAN, “The Soteriology of the Second Letter of Peter”, Bib 82 (2001) 549-559.