"Too much" 1 Peter for a weak stomach

003| Jason C. Staas

So today: Flu-like stuff...you know. Good times.

So I started the day, in a steady recovery on my couch, reading Chapter one of "Go in Peace; A Gift of Enduring Love" By John Paul II. Chapter one is on Prayer. Which is awesome...the chapter, prayer, the book. But after that and some deep prayer and thought about my role as a believer in the Communion of Saints, I shifted gears to watch the Mel Gibson production "Apocalypto" which was, at times, very troubling. But it makes you think, like any good cinematic art. Which was good, for me...when that is one of the few things flu-like stuff does not stop you from doing.

Anyway, in the credits after the movie I saw the words "In memory of Abel"...

I did a double take...

Abel?

Yep, Abel. Somehow a movie themed in Mayan culture and turmoil was "In memory of Abel"... not real sure how....

Abel, the second-born son of Adam, murdered in the fields by his brother Cain...the one's who even after death still speaks through the faithfulness of his sacrifices... the one whose blood cries out in from the earth... somehow a movie about a Mayan guy struggling in some of the worst ways to regain his freedom and rescue his wife and children was in memory of Abel...

so then I really started thinking...

then I dove into 1 Peter...I mean the bibles were out because I was looking up everything in scripture referencing Abel... so the obvious next step is 1 Peter.

So... a lot of background on 1 Peter is in order.

Well... first step: who wrote 1 Peter? Was it Peter as in the Disciple and Apostle of Christ?

Some say yes. It was Peter. I mean...some really advanced and well-polished Greek especially for a Jewish fisherman. But definitely Peter.

Others say partially. It was Peter, but with the scribe talents of Silas (aka Silvanus (see Mark 5:12-13)) at his disposal. Which is possible. I mean...some really advanced pastoral reflections written in some really advanced idiomatic Greek by an advanced Christ-follower and an advanced Greek Scribe that were noted for spending great amounts of time and travel in each other's company. Definitely Peter and Silas.

Still, others say no. It was not Peter. Rather, it was someone very familiar with Peter and his ministry and teachings...maybe even one of his disciples... who was also very proficient as a Greek scribe. But Definitely not Peter. (We will talk more about this next when I talk about when 1 Peter was written).

So who wrote 1 Peter? Well... Peter, maybe/ sort-of.

Next step: When was 1 Peter written?

Well...some say that if Peter wrote it, then it was no sooner than 60 CE...

Why no sooner than 60 CE? Well, some of the specific cross-references of Paul and Mark and Silvanus specifically 1 Thess 1:1 and Philem 24 happened after 60 CE and could not have been accurately rendered any sooner than there actual happenings.

... some say that if Peter wrote it, then it was no later than 68 CE...

Why no later than 68 CE? Well, Peter died, was martyred, in 68 CE. So if he wrote it, it could not have been after his martyrdom, right?

So there we have it? Between 60 and 68 CE?

Good enough for green eggs and ham. But for some biblical scholars, green eggs and ham is not on the menu.

Yep. There is more debate.

... those people that I mentioned before that do not believe that Peter wrote it, they are the same people that think that 1 Peter was written in the last decade of the first century CE...

so why between 90 and 100 CE? Well, "the situation indirectly described by the letter, however, points to a time after Peter's death. The language, style, content, and thought world seem inappropriate to Peter the Galilean fisherman and missionary to the Jews (Gal 2:9). The excellent and sophisticated Greek, the lack of references to the life and teaching of the earthly Jesus, the christological emphasis on the cosmic Christ, and the address to Gentile Christians who had previously lived a sinful, idolatrous life (1:14,18,21;2:1,9-11,25;4:3) point to a disciple of Peter writing in the name of the revered apostle. Thus most critical scholars interpret the document as a letter from the last decade of the first century CE, written in Peter's name in order to claim that its teaching represented the apostolic faith." (More on that, next, when I talk about where it was written)

So when was 1 Peter written? Well..either between 60- 68 CE or 90-100 CE.

Third step in getting a lot of background in 1 Peter: Where was it written from?

Well...the same people that believe Peter, or Peter and Silas wrote 1 Peter, they are the same people that think 1 Peter was written from "Babylon" (5:13) as in either:

a) Egyptian Babylon (A small-town, military outpost)
b) Mesopotamian Babylon (actual Babylon)

Why not Rome? Well...there are a few people in this group that consider it possible that the common cryptogram for Rome from the late first century CE was used but these people fall into some trouble in the debate over who wrote 1 Peter and when it was written. Why? Well...this cryptogram was not a true cryptogram in popular sense until Revelation was written. Revelation was written in the midst of last decade in the first century CE. Peter was a martyr and it was no longer between 60 and 68 CE in the late 1st century CE. That's why.

However, the people that believe that Peter did not write 1 Peter are the people that believe that this cryptogram is exactly what would have been used to say "Rome" late in the first century CE. They suppose that "the letter itself indicates it was written by a presbyter (elder; 5:1) of the Roman church - the "Babylon"of 5:13 was a common cryptogram for Rome at the end of the first century (see, for instance, Rev 17:5,9; 18:2,10,21)."

so where was 1 Peter written from? Who knows...He says Babylon. Think what you want.

Step four: Who was it written to?

This is the one thing we can all agree on...it is quite specifically described in 1:1-2.
So we are left to discuss that it was probably intended as a circulated pastoral letter to be used to encourage, direct and unify Christians living throughout Asia-minor. A people who considered themselves to be "People temporarily residing on earth whose home is in heaven." (1 Peter 1:1, Chr 29:15, Ps 39:12, Heb 13:14)

So with all this in mind, we are given some relative lenses with which to understand at different perspectives, as best we can, 1 Peter.