1 Peter
Introduction
This
letter begins with an address by Peter to Christian communities located in five
provinces of Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1),
including areas evangelized by Paul (Acts 16:6-7; 18:23).
Christians there are encouraged to remain faithful to their standards of belief
and conduct in spite of threats of persecution. Numerous allusions in the
letter suggest that the churches addressed were largely of Gentile composition
(1 Peter 1:14,
18; 2:9-10; 4:3-4), though
considerable use is made of the Old Testament (1 Peter 1:24; 2:6-7, 9-10, 22; 3:10-12).
The contents following the
address both inspire and admonish these "chosen sojourners" (1 Peter 1:1)
who, in seeking to live as God's people, feel an alienation from their previous
religious roots and the society around them. Appeal is made to Christ's
resurrection and the future hope it provides (1 Peter 1:3-5)
and to the experience of baptism as new birth (1 Peter 1:3, 23-25; 3:21). The
suffering and death of Christ serve as both source of salvation and example (1 Peter 1:19; 2:21-25; 3:18). What
Christians are in Christ, as a people who have received mercy and are to
proclaim and live according to God's call (1 Peter 2:9-10),
is repeatedly spelled out for all sorts of situations in society (1 Peter 2:11-17),
work (even as slaves, 1 Peter 2:18-20),
the home (1
Peter 3:1-7), and general conduct (1 Peter 3:8-12;
4, 1-11). But over all hangs the possibility of suffering as a Christian (1 Peter 3:13-17).
In 1 Peter
4:12-19 persecution is described as already occurring, so that some have
supposed the letter was addressed both to places where such a "trial by
fire" was already present and to places where it might break out.
The letter constantly mingles
moral exhortation (paraklesis) with its catechetical summaries of mercies in
Christ. Encouragement to fidelity in spite of suffering is based upon a vision
of the meaning of Christian existence. The emphasis on baptism and allusions to
various features of the baptismal liturgy suggest that the author has
incorporated into his exposition numerous homiletic, credal, hymnic, and
sacramental elements of the baptismal rite that had become traditional at an
early date.
From Irenaeus in the late
second century until modern times, Christian tradition regarded Peter the
apostle as author of this document. Since he was martyred at Rome during the
persecution of Nero between A.D. 64 and 67, it was supposed that the letter was
written from Rome shortly before his death. This is supported by its reference
to "Babylon" (1 Peter 5:13),
a code name for Rome in the early church.
Some modern scholars,
however, on the basis of a number of features that they consider incompatible
with Petrine authenticity, regard the letter as the work of a later Christian
writer. Such features include the cultivated Greek in which it is written, difficult
to attribute to a Galilean fisherman, together with its use of the Greek
Septuagint translation when citing the Old Testament; the similarity in both
thought and expression to the Pauline literature; and the allusions to
widespread persecution of Christians, which did not occur until at least the
reign of Domitian (A.D. 81-96). In this view the letter would date from the end
of the first century or even the beginning of the second, when there is
evidence for persecution of Christians in Asia Minor (the letter of Pliny the
Younger to Trajan, A.D. 111-12).
Other scholars believe,
however, that these objections can be met by appeal to use of a secretary,
Silvanus, mentioned in 1 Peter 5:12.
Such secretaries often gave literary expression to the author's thoughts in
their own style and language. The persecutions may refer to local harassment
rather than to systematic repression by the state. Hence there is nothing in
the document incompatible with Petrine authorship in the 60s.
Still other scholars take a
middle position. The many literary contacts with the Pauline literature, James,
and 1 John suggest a common fund traditional formulations rather than direct
dependence upon Paul. Such liturgical and catechetical traditions must have
been very ancient and in some cases of Palestinian origin.
Yet it is unlikely that Peter
addressed a letter to the Gentile churches of Asia Minor while Paul was still
alive. This suggests a period after the death of the two apostles, perhaps A.D.
70-90. The author would be a disciple of Peter in Rome, representing a Petrine
group that served as a bridge between the Palestinian origins of Christianity
and its flowering in the Gentile world. The problem addressed would not be
official persecution but the difficulty of living the Christian life in a
hostile, secular environment that espoused different values and subjected the
Christian minority to ridicule and oppression.
The principal divisions of
the First Letter of Peter are the following:
I.
Address
(1 Peter 1:1-2)
II.
The
Gift and Call of God in Baptism (1 Peter 1:3-2:10)
III.
The
Christian in a Hostile World (1 Peter 2:11-4:11)
IV.
Advice
to the Persecuted (1 Peter 4:12-5:11)
V.
Conclusion
(1 Peter
5:12-14) 1
Peter 1:1-2
Table of Contents 
James: Chapter 5
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1 Peter Introduction Ends.
Easter
Sunday 12 April 2009.