RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Peter the Apostle
Eph. ii. 11-iii. 13; I Cor. iv. 15, xv. 1-3; Acts xv. 3, 12, 19, xxi. 19), as well as in view of Peter's own attitude toward gentile Christians (Gal. ii. 12). The fact that the epistle was addressed to recent converts from paganism, not to Jewish Christians, is clear, moreover, from repeated allusions, such as i. 14, 21, ii. 10, hi. 6, and iv. 3. A similar meaning is plainly contained in ii. 25, while " the strangers " of i. 1 (R. V., " sojourners of the Dispersion ") clearly denote, not the Jewish Diaspora, but gentile Christians regarded as the true Israel scattered among the heathen (cf. ii. 9-10), even though Peter plainly considered these gentile churches as daughters of the mother church at Jerusalem. The epistle implies that the gentile Christians of Asia Minor had already been assailed by their pagan compatriots (iv. 4). Although the apostle evidently regarded acts of violence as a very possible eventuality (iv. 15-16; cf. i. 6, iii. 14, 17), at the time the only dangers were taunts and insults (iv. 4, 14) and the charge that the Christians were evil-doers (ii. 12, iii. 16), based on their rejection of heathen vices (iv. 3), an attitude attributed by their enemies to a hatred of the human race which might lead even to theft or murder (iv. 15). Such accusations were, generally speaking, unjust, but it is clear, from Peter's earnest admonitions to uprightness of life (I Pet. fi. 13— iii. 22), that he feared that the charges might prove real ones, and was also apprehensive that the Christians would relapse into pagan abominations to gain the friendship of the world (ii. 11, iv. 2). The general situation described in the epistle points to the period of the Neronian persecution, not, as some maintain, to the persecution under Trajan, for Christianity had not yet been made a crime against the State (cf. ii. 12, iii. 6, 13, 16, iv. 15), and obedience to temporal superiors could still be urged, a thing impossible after the faith was officially proscribed. Apart from these sufferings of the Christians of Asia Minor, and their consequent perils, nothing is known regarding their condition. It was these distresses and these dangers which had evoked the letter and had formed its purpose (cf. v. 12).
The contents of I Peter can scarcely be systematized. The introduction, with its hopeful outlook beyond the evils of the present (i. 1-12), is followed by general admonitions to upright life (i. 13-21),' brotherly love (i. 22-25), and the building
of a spiritual temple (ii. 1-10). Then
2. Relation come admonitions bearing more di-
to Other rectly on present conditions of earthly
N. T. Wri- pilgrimage (ii. 11-12), obedience to
tings. earthly superiors, even though they be
oppressive (ii. 13-25), mutual respect between husbands and wives (iii. 1-8), abstinence from revenge (iii. 8-12), and patient endurance of suffering (iii. 13-17), herein imitating Christ (iii. 18-22). The Christian must not relapse into pagan licentiousness (iv. 1-6), but must show sobriety, service, and affection (iv. 7-11), as well as endurance of undeserved affliction (iv. 12-19). Both old and young are admonished to perform their several duties (v. 1-5), and all must trust in God and be ever watchful (v. 6-9) ; while the epistle concludes with a benediction (v. 10-11), notes on the apos-
tle's purpose in writing (v. 12), and salutations (v. 13-14). The epistle shows unmistakable depend-
xiii. 1; h. 19 with xhi. 5; ii. 1, iv. 13 with xiii. 12- 13; ii. 24 with vi. 2; i. 5, iv. 13 with viii. 17-18). There is, on the other hand, no reason to assume that I Peter is dependent on Hebrews, Colossians, or any other Pauline epistles, and what dependence there is must be considered rather as general reminiscences than as mechanical borrowing.
There is, moreover, a marked individuality both in style and in dogmatic content, so that, despite a certain adoption of Pauline material (cf. I Pet. iv. 1-2, ii. 24, iii. 22 with Rom. vi. 7, 18, viii. 34), the type of doctrine represented is primitively apostolic, and is essentially a further de- 3. Its velopment of the Petrine passages re- Theology, corded in Acts. In both there is the same basal concept of Christianity as the realization of the Old-Testament kingdom of God, harmonizing with prophecy and brought into being by the crucified but risen Christ. There is, however, no such antithesis between the law and the Gospel as in the Pauline writings, nor is there the Pauline stress on the atonement or on justification by faith; but soteriology is more prominent in Peter than in James. Faith is not so much an acceptance of the forgiveness of sins based on the death of Christ upon the cross (as in Paul's teaching) as a trust in God grounded on the recognition of Jesus as the glorified Messiah who shall be revealed in the fulness of time. The moral life, consequently, is regarded as connected with faith from the first, rather than as a mere fruit of faith. The close union of prophecy and the entire theocracy of the Old Testament leads Peter to the conclusion that the salvation sought by the prophets is become the possession of the Christian, while the spirit which worked in the prophets was essentially the same as the spirit of Christ (I Pet. i. 10 sqq.). The ideal of the Old-Testament people of God is realized in the Christian Church (I Pet. ii. 9), which is to include all gentiles called of God (Acts ii. 39). The sufferings of Christ are not only the model for the Christian's patience under outward affliction (I Pet. ii. 21, hi. 18, iv. 1), but, since they most clearly reveal his moral greatness (ii. 22 sqq.), they inspire the Christian to all self-denial and to all struggle with sin (iv. 1 sqq.). Redemption from the power of sin is founded on the redemptive wor of the death of Christ (I Pet. i. 18-19), which has crushed the might of sin forever (iii. 18, iv. 1). From this it follows that Christ is the great shepherd of his flock (v. 4), that the salvation of the risen Lord extends even to the dead (iii. 19, iv. 6), that the moral effect of baptism, as " the answer of a good conscience toward God," is given through the resurrection of Christ (iii. 21), and that the sufferings of the Christians mark the beginning of the judgment (iv. 12). The result of all this ii'. a lively hope (i. 3, 13, 21, iii. 15) in the Christian, who is but a pilgrim and a stranger in this world (i. 17, ii. 11), a situation which should only inspire him to still greater moral earnestness.
Peter the Apostle