By Prof. A. Lopukhin
Authorship of the Epistle
The attribution of this epistle to the chief apostle Peter, although sometimes disputed in more recent times by Western biblical scholars, is confirmed primarily not only by the reference in the second epistle to the same apostle (2 Pet. 3:1), but also by the unanimous testimony of early Christian tradition, dating back to the apostolic era, as well as by the internal signs contained in the very content of the epistle. As for the testimonies of tradition, it is worth noting the fact that even St. Polycarp of Smyrna, an apostolic man and disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian, in his Epistle to the Philippians, as Eusebius of Caesarea testifies (Church History IV, 14), “brings some testimonies from the first Epistle of Peter,” and this is fully confirmed by a comparison of Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians with the first Ecumenical Epistle of the Apostle Peter (from the latter St. Polycarp quotes: 1 Pet. 1:8, 1:13, 1:21; 2:11, 2:12, 2:22, 2:24; 3:9, 3:4, 3:7). Equally clear testimonies in favor of the authenticity of the first Epistle of the Apostle Peter are found in St. Irenaeus of Lyons, who also quotes passages from the Epistle, indicating their belonging to the Apostle. Peter (Against Heresies IV, 9, 2; 16, 5), in Eusebius (Church History V, 8), in Tertullian (Against the Jews), in Clement of Alexandria (S IV, 20). In general, Origen and Eusebius call 1 Peter’s Epistle indisputably authentic – “επιστολή όμολογουμένη” (Church History VI, 25).
Evidence of the common belief of the ancient Church in the first two centuries regarding the authenticity of 1 Peter’s Epistle is also the finding of this epistle in the Syriac translation of the 2nd century – Peschito. And in all subsequent centuries, the universal Church of the East and the West unanimously recognizes this epistle as Peter’s.
The fact that the epistle was written by the Apostle Peter is also evidenced by internal signs contained in the very content of the epistle. The general tone or emphasis of the views of the sacred author, the character of his theology, moral teachings and exhortations fully correspond to the features and peculiarities of the personality of the great chief apostle Peter, as he is known to us from the Gospel and apostolic history.
Two main characteristic features stand out in the spiritual appearance of the apostle: a lively, concrete way of thinking, prone – due to the apostle’s inherent ardor – to easily pass into an urge to action; and a constant connection of his worldview with the teachings and hopes of the Old Testament.
The first peculiarity of the apostle Peter is clearly evident from the Gospel testimonies about him (see Luke 5:8; Matt. 14:25–33, 16:16, 22; John 6:68–69; Mark 9:5; John 13:9; Luke 22:31–33, 57, etc.); the second is confirmed by his calling as an apostle to the circumcised (Gal. 2:7); both of these features are equally reflected in the speeches of the Apostle Peter, set forth in the Acts of the Holy Apostles.
The theology and writings of the Apostle Peter as a whole are distinguished by the predominance of images and concrete ideas over abstract reasoning.
In the Apostle Peter we do not encounter such sublime-metaphysical contemplations as in the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, nor such a subtle explanation of the logical interconnection between Christian ideas and dogmas as in the Apostle Paul. St. Peter’s attention is focused primarily on the events of history – mainly Christian, and partly also Old Testament. Sanctifying Christianity primarily as a historical fact, the Apostle Peter appears, we could say, a theologian-historian or, in his own words, a witness of Christ: he sees his apostolic calling precisely in this – to be a witness to everything that the Lord Jesus Christ did, and above all to His resurrection.
This is repeatedly emphasized in the apostle’s speeches (see Acts 1:22, 11, 32; Acts 3:15; Acts 5:32; Acts 10:39), as well as in his epistles (1 Pet. 5:1; 2 Pet. 1:16–18). Equally characteristic of the Apostle Peter is the connection of his teaching with the Old Testament. This feature stands out strongly in the writings of St. the Apostle Peter. Everywhere he presents Christianity primarily from the point of view of its connection with the Old Testament, as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and expectations. It is enough, for example, to compare the speech of the Apostle Peter on the occasion of the healing of the lame man (Acts 3:18–25) with the words in 1 Pet. 1:10–12 to see that all his reasoning and proofs stem from the fact of the Old Testament revelation and always presuppose prophecy, type and New Testament fulfillment.
In this regard, the idea of Divine foreknowledge and predestination occupies a particularly important place in the teaching of the Apostle Peter. The very word πρόγνωσις – foreknowledge, foresight – is not found anywhere else in the New Testament, except in the speeches and epistles of the Apostle Peter (Acts 2:23; 1 Pet. 1:2, 20).
Both in his speeches and in his epistles, the Apostle Peter repeatedly speaks of the predestination of various historical events of New Testament history (see Acts 1:16; Acts 2:23–25; Acts 3:18–20, 21; Acts 4:28; Acts 10:41–42; 1 Pet. 1:1, 20).
But unlike the Apostle Paul, who fully develops the doctrine of predestination (Rom. 8, 9, 11), the Apostle Peter, without entering into the theoretical explanation of the idea of Divine foresight and predestination, offers its most detailed development through its factual manifestation in history – through prophecy. The doctrine of prophecy – about the inspiration of the prophets by the Holy Spirit, about the revelation of God’s mysteries to them, about their effective penetration into these mysteries, etc. – is set forth in the Apostle Peter with such completeness and clarity that is not found in any other sacred author. And this teaching is expressed both in his epistles and in his speeches (cf. 1 Pet. 1:10–12; 2 Pet. 1:19–21; 3:2; Acts 1:16; 2:30–31; 3:18–24; 4:25; 10:43).
Finally, a characteristic feature of both the epistles and the speeches of the Apostle Peter is the abundance of direct quotations from the Old Testament. In the words of the scholar A. Klemen (Der Gebrauch des Alten Testaments in den neutestamentlichen Schriften, Gütersloh, 1895, p. 144): “none of the New Testament writings is so rich in references to the Old Testament as the 1st Epistle of the Apostle Peter – out of 105 verses in the epistle, 23 are Old Testament quotations.”
This close coincidence in spirit, direction and main points of doctrine between the speeches and epistles of the Apostle Peter, as well as between the peculiarities of their content and the characteristic features of the personality and activity of the Apostle Peter known from the Gospel, constitutes convincing evidence of the belonging of the two Council Epistles precisely to this great first-principal apostle Peter – whose speeches are recorded in the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, and more precisely – in its first part (Acts 1–12). After his speech at the apostolic council (Acts 15:7–11), the further activity of St. Peter becomes part of the church tradition, which is not always sufficiently clear and definite.
Purpose of the Epistle
As for the original purpose and the first readers of the First Epistle of the Apostle Peter, the apostle himself addresses it to the “elect strangers of the dispersion” (ἐκλεκτοῖς παρεπιδήμοις διασπορᾶς) in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia (1 Pet. 1:1).
Considering that the concept of “dispersion” (διασπορά) often in Scripture (James 1:1; 2 Macc. 1:27; Judith 5:19) denotes the totality of Jews living outside Palestine – in pagan countries, many ancient and modern interpreters of the Epistle of the Apostle Peter have considered that it was written to Christians (ἐκλεκτοῖς – “chosen ones”) of Jewish origin.
Such an opinion was held in antiquity by Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea (Church History III, 4), Epiphanius of Cyprus (Against Heresies, XXVII, 6), Blessed Jerome (On Illustrious Men, ch. I), Ikumenius, Blessed Theophylact; and in more recent times – Berthold, Gooch, Weiss, Kühl, etc.
However, this opinion cannot be fully accepted, since in the epistle there are places that in content refer more to Christians of pagan origin than to Judeo-Christians. Such is, for example, the text in 1 Pet. 1:14, 18, where the reason for the previous carnal and sinful life of the readers is designated as “in ignorance” (ἐν τῇ ἀγνοίᾳ) – i.e. in ignorance of God and His holy law, and this previous life itself is called “a vain life handed down from the fathers” (ματαία ἀναστροφή πατροπαραδότος). Both expressions are applicable to the religious-moral state of the Gentiles, but in no case to the Jews.
The same must be said of such places as 1 Pet. 2:10; 3:6; 4:3–4. Therefore, it should be assumed: that the composition of the readers is mixed – it includes both Jewish Christians and Christians from among the Gentiles; that the term “dispersion” (diaspora) should be understood as Christians in general, regardless of their ethnic origin; that the “chosen strangers” are not individual Christians, but entire Christian church communities, as is evident from the concluding greeting given by the entire church (1 Pet. 5:13–14).
If some have seen in the listing of geographical names in 1 Pet. 1:1 an indication of the existence in Asia Minor of Judeo-Christian communities founded there earlier and independently of the gospel of the Apostle Paul, and if they attribute the founding of these communities to the Apostle Peter, then all this is not confirmed by the New Testament testimonies. On the contrary, they attribute the first spread of Christianity in the provinces of Asia Minor to the Apostle Paul (see Rom. 15:20; Acts 13 et seq.; Acts 14, etc.). Likewise, church tradition does not report anything definite about the preaching of the Apostle Peter in the localities he mentioned (1 Pet. 1:1).
Reason for writing the epistle
What prompted the Apostle Peter to address the Christians of these provinces with a letter? The general purpose of the epistle, as is evident from its content, is the apostle’s intention to confirm readers from various social strata in the faith and in the rules of Christian life, to remove some internal disorders, to comfort them in their external sorrows, to protect them from temptations from false teachers – in a word: to establish in the lives of the Christians of Asia Minor those true spiritual goods, the deficiency of which in their behavior and deeds was palpable and became known to the Apostle Peter, perhaps through the mediation of the zealous collaborator of the Apostle Paul – Silvanus, who was then with him (see 1 Pet. 5:12; 2 Thess. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:19).
It can be noted that both the instructions and especially the warnings of the Apostle Peter are distinguished by a more general character compared to those in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul – which is quite natural, considering that the Apostle Paul was the founder of the churches of Asia Minor and, due to his personal and direct experience, knew better the conditions of their life.
Where the Epistle was written
The place where the First Epistle of the Apostle Peter was written is Babylon – from where, on behalf of the local Christian community, the Apostle sends greetings to the churches of Asia Minor, to which the Epistle is addressed (1 Pet. 5:13).
But what should be understood by the name “Babylon” – on this issue, interpreters have different opinions. Some believe that it is about the famous Babylon on the Euphrates River in ancient times. However, several facts speak against this: firstly, at the time of the Gospel, this Babylon was already in ruins and represented a vast desert (ἐρῆμος πολλη, according to Strabo, Geographica XVI, 736); and secondly, there is a complete lack of any evidence from church tradition about the Apostle Peter’s stay in Mesopotamia or his preaching there.
Others (including Bishop Michael Luzinus) believe that this refers to Egyptian Babylon – a small town on the right bank of the Nile, almost opposite Memphis, where a Christian church existed (see Cheti-minei, June 4). But tradition also says nothing about the Apostle Peter’s stay in Egyptian Babylon; it only points to the Evangelist Mark, a disciple of the Apostle Peter, as the founder of the Alexandrian Church (Eusebius, Church History II, 16).
It remains to accept the third opinion – expressed in antiquity by Eusebius of Caesarea (Church History II, 15) and now prevailing in scholarly literature, according to which “Babylon” in 1 Pet. 5:13 should be understood as the symbolic name of Rome.
In addition to Eusebius, among the ancient interpreters, “Babylon” is understood as Rome by Blessed Jerome, Blessed Theophylact, and Ikumenius. Textual tradition also speaks in support of this interpretation: numerous minuscule codices contain the gloss: ἐγράφη ἀπὸ Ῥώμης (“written from Rome”).
If it has been objected that the allegorical name of Rome as Babylon could not have been formed until the writing of the Apocalypse (cf. Rev. 16:19; 17:5; 18:2), then in reality such an identification between the first and the second occurred much earlier – according to the testimony of Schötgen (Horae Hebraicae, p. 1050) – as a result of the analogy between the ancient oppression of the Jews by the Chaldeans and the later one by the Romans.
Moreover, the fact that in the concluding greetings of Paul’s epistles written from Rome (to the Philippians, Colossians, Timothy, Philemon), the city is not called Babylon does not exclude the possibility of such a use of language by the Apostle Peter, who is generally characterized by allegorical expressions (e.g. the word διασπορά in 1 Pet. 1:1 has a spiritual, figurative meaning).
Therefore, the place of writing of the First Epistle of the Apostle Peter was Rome.
When was the Epistle written
It is difficult to determine with certainty the time of writing of the Epistle. Many ancient church writers (St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius the God-bearer, Dionysius of Corinth, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian, Origen, the Muratorian Canon) testify to the stay of the Apostle Peter in Rome, but none of them even approximately dates his arrival there, rather speaking of the martyrdom of the first-ranking apostles – again without specifying the exact time.
Therefore, the question of the time of the emergence of the Epistle under consideration must be resolved on the basis of New Testament data. The Epistle presupposes the already existing churches in Asia Minor, established by the Apostle Paul, which, as is known, occurred during his third great missionary journey around 56–57 AD; therefore, before this period the First Epistle of the Apostle Peter could not have been written.
Moreover, in the text of the Epistle, not without reason, signs of similarity with the Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Romans and Ephesians have been found (cf. e.g. 1 Pet. 1:14 and Rom. 12:2; 1 Pet. 2:13–14 and Rom. 13:1–6; 1 Pet. 3:9 and Rom. 12:17; as well as 1 Pet. 2:4 and Eph. 2:20–22; 1 Pet. 1:10–11 and Eph. 2:5, 10, etc.). And the first of these Epistles The first (to the Romans) was written no earlier than 53 AD, and the second (to the Ephesians) no earlier than 61 AD.
The presence of Silvanus (1 Pet. 5:12), a co-worker and companion of the Apostle Paul, with the Apostle Peter also supports the relatively late date of writing the First Epistle.
Based on all this, it can be assumed that the Epistle was written after the missionary activity of the Apostle Paul among the churches of Asia Minor had ended – when he, as a prisoner, was sent from Caesarea to Rome for trial before Caesar (see Acts 26:1). It was then that it was natural for the Apostle Peter to address a letter to the churches in Asia Minor, which had lost their great evangelist, in order to instruct them in faith and godliness, and to comfort them in the sorrows of life.
Therefore, the most likely time of writing the First Epistle is the period between 62–64 (shortly after the first epistle, and shortly before his martyrdom, the Apostle Peter also wrote his Second Epistle).
Conclusion: In accordance with the peculiarities of his personal spiritual life, as well as with the purpose of his epistle, the Apostle Peter most and repeatedly instructs his readers in the Christian hope – in trust in God and the Lord Jesus Christ and in salvation in Him.
Just as the Apostle James is a preacher of righteousness, and the Evangelist John – of Christ’s love, so the Apostle Peter is, above all, an apostle of Christian hope.
Source in Russian: Explanatory Bible, or Commentaries on all the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments: In 7 volumes / Ed. by prof. A.P. Lopukhin. – 4th ed. – Moscow: Dar’, 2009.
