1st Peter

1
1st Peter

• Persecution, Honor and Shame

2
Peter the Rock

• two letters claim to have been written by the
  apostle Simon Peter (sometimes called Cephas)
• 1 Pt 11, 2 Pt 11
• Peter is one of the best known and beloved
  figures in early church (150xs he is mentioned in
  NT)
• inner circle of disciples (Gethsemane)
• famous Peter stories?

3
Question of Authorship

• Peters authorship was not questioned until
  recent times.
• all early evidence points to Peters authorship.
• Arguments against it are
• severe persecution under Domitian
• but what about Nero?
• the literary quality is too advanced for a humble
  Galilean fisherman
• who says! (John Bunyon of Pilgrims Progress)
• with help of Silas (512)

4
Cappadocian church entrance
5
Written from Babylon?

• claims to have been written from Babylon (513)
• code name for Rome
• Peter and Paul were in Rome under Nero
• note 11-3 (where are these places?)
• to exiles! implying images of Israel to
  Christians feeling exiled in this world
• written to combat the shame of isolation which
  Christian faith tended to induce
• language of honor chosen and destined by God
• he wrote to encourage Christians who in
  persecution and alienation

6
Pliny the Younger

• http//www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/pliny.h
  tml
• They asserted, however, that the sum and
  substance of their fault or error had been that
  they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day
  before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to
  Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by
  oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud,
  theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor
  to refuse to return a trust when called upon to
  do so. When this was over, it was their custom to
  depart and to assemble again to partake of
  food--but ordinary and innocent food. Even this,
  they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my
  edict by which, in accordance with your
  instructions, I had forbidden political
  associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the
  more necessary to find out what the truth was by
  torturing two female slaves who were called
  deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but
  depraved, excessive superstition.

7
Honor for the Marginalized

• Peter addresses a critical situation
• addressees once participated in the social and
  cultural life of their communities
• since conversion to Christ, they have become
  marginalized and abused
• not because Christianity has been outlawed
• but because they refuse to participate in civil
  religion and participate in a secret one.
• Christianity was a dangerous sect everywhere
  spoken against (Acts 2822).

8
Photos of Cappadocia
9
What kind of persecution?

• Christians are called to suffer for the name
  (415-16)
• yet the abuse is mostly verbal (222-23 39-16)
• a positive attitude toward the state is
  encouraged (213ff)
• indicates there is no outright government
  persecution
• perhaps occasional arbitrary acts
• refusal to participate in civil religion was seen
  as eliciting the anger of the Roman gods
• all unfortunate events were blamed on the
  Christians who made the gods angry.

10
What to think of it all

• 1 Peter instruction on how to think about the
  shame of being a Christian
• how to live faithfully in the world
• how to put it in a broader perspective
• does not present a theological essay
• but what he says is based on deep theological
  reflection
• expresses an underlying narrative framework
• How be encouraged in suffering?
• you are not those whose impiety encourages the
  wrath of the gods
• there is a different storyline than this!

11
Peters Subversive Story!

• God created the world (419)
• God chose a people through whom to work (29-10)
• God sent Christ who was rejected by humans but
  exalted by God (24)
• God sent the Spirit and Christian evangelists who
  established a new people of God (112)
• God will send Christ in the future to conduct the
  final judgment (17, 13 47).
• Christians live their lives between Christs
  resurrection and return

12
The Cruciform Pattern

• Christians live their lives between the times
• Christs pattern of suffering and exaltation is
  foundational for present living
• just as Christ was misunderstood and suffered
  unjustly for the sake of others
• we are called to follow in his steps (221,
  38ff)
• all Christians are called to be subject to
  governing authorities (213-17)
• most vulnerable Christians (slaves, wives) are
  instructed to act so as to testify to faith in
  Christ (218-36)
• this follows the example of Christ and will be
  vindicated in judgment (31-2 45-7)

13
Early Christian Paintings
14
Conversion as New Birth

• Peter seeks to combat the shame their new loyalty
  to Christ elicits
• suspicion related to their refusal to participate
  in civic festivals and associations related to
  the deities of their city.
• P - conversion a new birth (13)
• change of identity and status in new family
• the covenanted people of God formed in Christs
  image

15
Status Changed

• Changes reflect a new status in the family
• no hope to true hope (121)
• impurity to purity (118 43)
• slavery to freedom (118)
• perishability to imperishability (14)
• ignorance to knowledge (114)
• flesh to spirit (46)
• no mercy shown to those to whom mercy is shown
  (210)
• not my people to my people (210)
• disobedience to obedience (12, 22)

16
Toward a new status

• this language honors members who have lost all
  honor in public society
• it confirms the benefits of belonging to a new
  group in light of the heavy cost
• it also encourages new members to live a life
  worthy of their calling
• helps alleviate the pain of breaking old
  allegiances to family and municipality

17
Outsiders Perspective

• Christianity was suspected of undermining the
  social fabric.
• new loyalties to Jesus strained old ones (to city
  and family) to the breaking point
• Mark 1029 Matt 1034-38 1 Cor 710-16)
• this is a world of honor and shame
• loss of reputation and honor often a cause of
  suicide
• loss of honor had a significant effect of
  identity and behavior

18
House in a Rock!
19
Resident Aliens

• members of church appear to be aliens
• not only implies a loss of honor
• but a loss of support of family and civic
  associations.
• If Christians are aliens or exiles (11, 17)
• they nonetheless are citizens of a new
  commonwealth (12)
• even part of Gods own family (13-5)
• read 21-12

20
Two Stories Told

• God chose Jesus (26) and honored him by
  constituting him as the cornerstone of the new
  temple (27)
• this cornerstone is precious to the only judge of
  honor and status, namely God
• yet dishonored and rejected by others (28)
• similarly, Christians are a chosen race
• a royal priesthood, a holy nation (29)
• marks of real honor coming from God himself, the
  only real judge that matters.

21
A Really Old Church
22
Living Stones

• Like Jesus, Christians are precious to God
• even if they are dishonored by their neighbors
• like Jesus, Christians are living stones built
  into a new spiritual house (25)
• Jesus story serves as a paradigm for how God
  apportions honor
• the only honor that counts comes from God
• this heavenly honor cancels out suffering which
  is shame and dishonor from ones neighbors

23
Social Relationships

• all social relationships are transformed
• all believers are exhorted to holiness (116, cf.
  211-17 38-22)
• if you suffer, suffer for the right reasons
• for Christs sake, not because of your own sin
• Christians should practice the same respect for
  rights and duties as God does
• and to be sensitive to honor and status as
  defined by new family, new story, new God

24
Slaves and Priests

• slaves may be a royal priesthood in the church
• yet suffering under a harsh taskmaster (218)
• they can find the true meaning of their negative
  experience by observing Jesus and imitating him
  (221)
• his suffering was a means to glory and
  vindication
• suffering comes even to the elect
• they should not return evil for evil (the way of
  honor among their neighbors 39)
• but interpret their social dishonor as a blessing
  (315)
• again, based on the Jesus story of his shame and
  vindication (318-22)

25
New Holiness

• holiness will result in living a life of a
  person born anew to a living hope through the
  resurrection of Jesus (13).
• Like the obedient Jesus who honored God,
• converts are to conform their lives and values
  according to the basic model of Jesus
• esp. as he is described in 318-22