grounds) the genuinenoRs of Polycarp's epistle.· Eusebius tells us that the Epistle was used by Papias. There are manifest traces of it in the 'Shepherd' of Herrnas, in Justin Mai·tyr, and Theophilus of Antioch. Irenrous, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian quote it expressly, often by name. Origen refer.3 to it frequently, aud say11 expressly that it was- acceph:d by all as genuine. Euscbius places it among those canonical Scriptures which are universally acknowledged. It is contained in the Peschito and the Old Latin versions. The Muratorian Canon mentions only an Apocalypse of Peter, "which some will not have read in the Church." But that document is so fragmentary that little weight cau be attached to its omission of St. Peter's Epistles. The genuineness of the Epistle has been questioned by certain modern critics, as Eichhorn, De W ette, Baur, Schwegler, Hilgenfeld, etc., chiefly on the following grounds: (1) Its resemblance to the Epistles of St. Paul; (2) its supposed want of originality; (3) because the description of the persecu- tions is regarded as indicating a later date; (4) the supposed absence of a. sufficient occasion. In answer to these objections, it may be urged: (1) It is true that this Epistle has many points of contact with St. Paul's Epistles, especially the Epistles to the Romans and Ephesians, as well as with that of St. James. But why should not apostles study the writings of other apostles, as Daniel had studied the writings of other prophets (Dan. ix. 2) ? St. Luke was acquainted with earlier Christian records. St. Peter, when he wrote (as we fully believe he did write) the Second Epistle, had read the Epistle of St. Jude, as well as several of St. Paul's letters. St. Paul had communi- cated bis gosp~l to" them which were of reputation" at Jerusalem. St. Pet.er, who was one of them, would be sure io take the deepest interest in such writings of St. Paul as might at any time become known to him through Silvan.us or any other source; he would be sure io make use of them when writing to Churches which had been founded through the instrumentality of St. Paul. The many admitted coincidences furnish no argument against the genuineness of the Epistle, except t.o those who, like Baur, regard the Clementine Recognitions and Homilies as giving a. trne account of the state of things in the early Church, and exaggerate the original differences between the two apostles into an irreconcilable opposi- tion. But it is by no means correct to describe the teaching of this Epistle as" insipid Paulinism." St. Peter's mode of presenting Christian doctrine is not that of St. Paul. He does not insist, as St. Paul does, on the doctrine of justification by faith only; he contemplates the death of Christ from a somewhat different point of view; his teaching on the subject of baptism has not a Pauline colouring. The great truths are the same ; they are regarded in a somewhat different aspect. (2) There is no want of originality. The writer is evidently a man of independent thought; he has several conceptions which are specially his own. Such are the Lord's preaching in the spirit-world; the priesthood of all Christia.ns, which is also characteristio of the Revelation of St. John; 'fi INTRODUCTION TO
the new of the Deluge a.s a figure of Christian baptism; the reference to Sarah as an example to Christian wives; the preRentation of ancient pro- phecy; the interest ta.ken by the angels in the work of redemption; the enforcement of holiness as a means for convincing the heathen. The ma,ny words peculiar to the Epistle (there are about sixty such, several of them picturesque and unusual) furnish another indication of originality. (3) It is true that believers are described as suffering as Christians; but the Epistle does not exhibit any systematic effort of the Roman magistrates to extirpate Christianity. There is no mention of formal trials ; for the a:iro>..o-y{a of eh. iii. 15 is not a defence before a court of law, or an apology offered to an emperor or magistrate, but simply an answer such as any true Christian ought to be able to give to those who a.sk for the reasons of his hope in Christ. Again, there is no evidence in the Epistle of actual martyrdom; the snfferings mentioned in it do not seem to have reached unto death. The apostle even speaks &s if blamelessness of life might soften the enemies of the faith (eh. ii. 12, 15; iii. 16). On the whole, the Epistle indicates, not a systematic persecution like that under Trajan, but such a state of things as might be expected to exist in the provinces after the N eronian persecution of .&..D. 64. The fury of that persecution was limited to Rome. The Christians were accused of the definite offence of having caused the great conflagration, and were punished for their supposed guilt. It is mora1ly certain that the outblll'st of hatred kindled in the imperial city must have spread in various degrees over the provinces, and that Christian provincials, though not formally brought to trial and punished for the crime falsely laid to the charge of their Roman brethren, must haTe been exposed to many indignities and much suffering from popnlar violence, and from the tendency of the provincial authorities to follow the example, and the wish to win the favour, of the Roman persecutors. ( 4) There was a sufficient occasion. St. Peter had heard of the suffer- ings of the Christians of Asia Minor, perhaps from Silvanus; it may be also from Mark, who, when St. Panl wrote his Epistle to the Colossians, was intending to visit Asia Minor (Col. iv. 10), and may have joined St. Peter at Babylon after fulfilling his design. St. Peter wrote to encourage and comfort his suffering brethren, taking care to recognize a,nd to stamp with his apostolic authority the teaching which they had received from St. Paul (see eh. i. 12, 25), and purposely incorporating much of that teaching into his Epistle. Thus the Epistle is not, as some say, an effort of some unknown Christian early in the second century to reconcile the supposed controversies between the Petrine and the Pauline parties, but a spontaneous outflow of St. Peter's sympathy for the suffering Churches.
II. To WHOM THE EPISTLE IS ADDRESSED. St. Peter addresses his Epistle to "the strangers scattered throughout Fontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia., and Bithynia." The question at once THE FIRS'!' EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER. vii