Introductory material on 1 Peter

Who:

Like all biblical books the question of who wrote the book of 1 Peter is a complicated one. Tradition has taught that the author of 1 Peter is in fact the disciple Peter. This doesn't stand without some issues that have to be faced by faithful stewards of scripture. One of the difficulties with Peter being the author is that from the Gospels we know Peter as a fisherman. It is doubtful that Peter would have been able to write this letter in the form that it is written. For instance the Greek used in 1 Peter is very 'proper' and well articulated, hardly what we would expect from a fisherman. Another difficulty is that in this letter when the Old Testament is quoted it is the Greek version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint, abbreviated LXX) that is quoted. It seems reasonably safe to assume that Peter would have quoted the scriptures in Hebrew or Aramaic because that is what he would have grown up understanding. Peter would have quoted what was comfortable and he was used to much the same as today people have preferences for one particular version of scripture i.e. King James, NIV or NRSV. One final problem is that in the letter Peter uses the Greek form of his name "Peter" instead of the Aramaic form "Cephas." In and of itself this wouldn't seem like to big of an issue except that even Paul uses "Cephas" when he refers to Peter in his letters to Greek speaking Christians, so the question is begged, why would Peter use a different name?

Listing these issues with Peterine authorship are not enough to absolutely deny Peter wrote the letter. One of the way's these differences can be explained is that Peter used an intermediary to write the letter. In fact we have a name for who wrote the letter and that was Silvanus. This was a common practice in ancient times and is much the same as a few years ago when people who couldn't write paid others to write letters for them. Knowing Silvanus wrote the letter we could easily explain that Silvanus used the form of Greek writing he was most familiar with, he quoted the scriptures he was most comfortable with, and possibly wrote the Greek name "Peter" for convenience or feeling that it would enable his audience to connect more.

I would argue that it is helpful for us to be aware of some of the authorship issues around 1 Peter but they have little bearing on the message of 1 Peter. I will assume that this letter was written by the Apostle Peter and had to be written before his death in the late 60's under the persecution of Nero in Rome.

When:

As alluded to in the previous section the letter of 1 Peter had to be written in the mid to early 60's. This of course is assuming Peterine authorship. Also there is no reference in the letter, either blatantly or otherwise, to the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE which was a major turning point in the life the church and of Christianity. I believe we can also safely assume that the letter was written pre 90's, which is the first documented case of widespread state sanctioned persecution, because the letter itself is more concerned with respect for the government and authority figures and dealing with local persecution caused by being cast out of the society rather than being killed for the faith. This may even be an argument for this letter being before Nero persecuted Christians in Rome in the late 60's.

Where; Why; Type:

1 Peter was a letter written to the churches in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. When we read the letter of 1 Peter we have to remember that it is a letter to a specific group of churches in a specific time and place. This is important particularly as we deal with ethical issues in the letter of 1 Peter. Tied in with what type of literature and where it was written to is the why? This letter was written to strengthen the faith of Gentile Christians who have been put on the outside of their society by their faith in Christ. They are not dealing with persecution on a national level, they are dealing with discrimination by former friends and family and are struggling with where they fit into the world. 1 Peter attempts to address these issues and encourage the faithful to live as respected citizens in society.

Lessons:

There will be five lessons on 1 Peter

Lesson 1: 1:1-12

Lesson 2: 1:13-2:10

Lesson 3: 2:11-4:11

Lesson 4: 4:12-5:11

Lesson 5: 5:12-14