Kontakion

Reading Amount: 1 Peter 1:1-12 Central Verse: By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1 Peter 1:3b-5 Central Truth: The hope that we have in Christ comes not from forgiveness of sins or from his death on the cross, but from the resurrection. The Resurrection has brought us into a relationship with God with eternal rewards. Food for Thought (Questions about the text): As in the case of most letters in the New Testament Peter sets up the general themes that we will see reoccurring throughout the letter. In verse two Peter writes "May Grace and peace be yours in abundance." (1 Peter 1:2 NRSV). The greeting of grace is a traditional greeting in the Roman world, the addition of the word peace i...

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 ...