Peter’s first epistle is to Christians in Asia Minor, addressing suffering. p. 636 “Unlike Paul, who often develops a theological point before applying it, Peter mixes imperative and indicative almost from the beginning of the letter.” In fact, he generally opens paragraphs with a command, then brings in theological details to support the command.
One of the controversial passages in the text is chapter 3 verses 18-22, where some find Jesus’ descent into Hades after the resurrection but some find Christ prior to the incarnation preaching through Noah.
Carson and Moo do not claim to know what kind of suffering the Christians who received the letter were suffering, but it is clear that their suffering is the occasion for the letter. Knowing what the suffering was might point us more clearly to a time and place of composition and a more specific recipient.
1 Peter depends heavily on traditional material. It quotes the Old Testament eight times, alludes to it often, and is full of Old Testament concepts. This points some scholars toward early composition of the letter. The letter seems to be a cohesive whole, with few scholars suggesting any division in the authorship. Early testimony affirms the author to be Peter. If the reference to “Babylon” in 5:13 is to Rome, and if that is a reference to the place of authorship, the date of the letter is likely in the mid 60s, though many scholars suggest Peter was in Rome much of the time after the year 42.
In recent study scholars have suggested the existence of a Petrine “school” which would have written this book after the death of Peter. Another area of scholarship is to analyze the way 1 Peter uses the Old Testament to communicate to the believers. A third area of scholarship focuses on the possible social status of the readers. 1 Peter is very helpful in its focus on the hope Christians can have in their risen Lord and by knowing they belong to the historic people of God. The book’s high Christology points to Jesus as the hope we have always had.
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