New Testament · Letter · book 60 of 66 · 1 min read
The book of 1 Peter
A letter about being an unpopular minority, written to people suffering social hostility rather than official persecution, and refusing to let them retaliate.
“casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.”
At a glance
- Chapters
- 5
- Author
- Peter, with Silvanus named as scribe
- Written
- Probably 60s AD
- Written for
- Christians in Asia Minor being treated as outsiders
- Themes
- exile, suffering, conduct, hope
What it is about
1 Peter addresses churches scattered across what is now Turkey, and its recurring image is exile — resident aliens, strangers, people at home nowhere. The suffering it describes is mostly social: slander, exclusion, being thought subversive.
The instruction throughout is not to answer in kind. Repay evil with blessing, be ready to explain your hope with gentleness and respect, and let conduct do the arguing.
It is also the source of the shortest and bluntest verse about worry in the New Testament, sitting in a passage about humility under pressure.
Where to start
Chapter 3, from verse 8, which contains both the instruction not to retaliate and the line about giving a reason for hope.
The chapters worth knowing
- 1 Peter 2 — A chosen people and living stones, addressed to people treated as nobody in particular.
- 1 Peter 3 — Do not repay evil with evil, and be ready to give a reason for your hope with gentleness.
- 1 Peter 5 — Casting your anxiety on him, in a passage about humility under pressure.
What people get wrong about it
That its instruction to submit endorses abusive authority. The letter is strategic advice to a vulnerable minority about not giving their accusers ammunition, and it has been misused for centuries as though it were a general endorsement of whoever holds power.
From this book
Questions
What is 1 Peter about?
Living as an unpopular minority — enduring social hostility without retaliating, and letting conduct rather than argument make the case.
What does cast all your anxiety on him mean?
The verb is a throwing word, and the reason given is not that the worry was trivial but that someone else is willing to carry it. It sits in a passage about humility under pressure.