The First Letter of Peter

Context of 1 Peter

Martin Luther rated the First Letter of Peter as a book which, together with the Gospel of John and the Pauline letters, belongs to the core of the books of the Bible. It is indeed, ‘one of the noblest books in the New Testament’. The letter seems to have been held in high regard in the early church as it is presupposed by such authors as Polycarp (Pol Phil 8:1; 1:3; 10:2) and Papias (Eusebius Eccl Hist 3.39.17). The letter goes under the name of Peter, but was most probably not written by the Apostle Peter. Among the reasons for this is the fact that the letter lacks eyewitness testimony to the passion of Jesus; the number of similarities between this letter and the letters of Paul (it seems to take up the tradition prevailing among the churches of Asia Minor); the spread of Christianity presupposed in Asia Minor, and the ecumenical perspective that points to a later phase in the history of early Christianity.

The author presents the letter as having been sent from Rome (1 Pet 5:13 ‘your sister [church] in Babylon sends you greetings’). After 70 CE, Babylon was used as a code word for Rome (cf Sib Or 5.143; 5.159; 2 Bar 11.1; 67.7; 4 Ezra 3.1,28,31). But although the Petrine-Pauline tradition was located in Rome according to church tradition, and although there are similarities between this letter and 1 Clement which was sent from Rome, the most probable setting for its composition is Asia Minor. This letter was first known and mentioned in the east where the description of Babylon for Rome also originated. Furthermore, the specific admonitions of the author presuppose knowledge of the situation in Asia Minor such as obtained in the late first century. The persecution mentioned in the letter does not refer to local acts of discrimination but to a more systematic and widespread persecution. In this state of conflict, Christians were arrested by local authorities (who sought to promote the cult of the emperor) because they were Christians (‘for the sake of the name alone’).