Background notes on 1 Peter

This letter is one of the short "general" or "catholic" letters in the New Testament, which are not
addressed to one specific church.  1 Peter itself is written to five churches in the northern part of
Asia Minor.

The author is "peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ," who had the help of a scribe named Silvanus,
who was probably the same person as "Silas" in the book of Acts.

The letter says it is being written from "Babylon," but most scholars think this was a pseudonym
for Rome.  (This is how Rome is referred to in Revelation, to avoid further persecution.)

The date of the letter is probably about 63-64 A.D., or about 30 years after Jesus' resurrection.

Some of the important themes in the letter:
     How to deal with opposition and persecution
     Relationship of Christians to the state
     Relationships among husbands, wives, slaves
     The Second Coming of Christ
     The Christian as someone reborn, or born again
     Christian joy

Peter's Imperatives (positive)

1. Gird up your minds (1:13)
2. Be sober (1:13; 4:7; 5:8)
3. Set your hope on Christ (1:13)
4. Be holy (1:15)
5. Conduct yourselves with fear (1:17)
6. Love one another earnestly (1:22) and unfailingly (4:8); love the brotherhood (2:17; 3:8; 4:8)
7. Long for "pure spiritual milk" (2:2)
8. Maintain good conduct (2:12; 3:16; 4:3)
9. Be subject to human institutions (2:13)
10. Live as free men (2:16)
11. Live as servants of God (2:16)
12. Honor all men (2:17)
13. Fear God (2:17)
14. Honor the Emperor (2:17)
15. Be submissive to masters (2:18)
16. Wives, be submissive to husbands (3:1)
17. Wives, have a gentle and quiet spirit (3:4)
18. Husbands, live considerately with wives (3:7)
19. Husbands, honor wives as weaker sex (3:7)
20. Have unity of spirit (3:8)
21. Have sympathy (3:8)
22. Have a tender heart (3:8)
23. Have a humble mind (3:8)
24. Bless enemies (3:9)
25. Reverence Christ as Lord in your hearts (3:15)
26. Be prepared to defend your hope (3:15)
27. Defend your hope with gentleness and reverence (3:15)
28. Keep your conscience clear (3:16)
29. Arm yourself with thoughts of Christ's suffering (4:1)
30. Keep sane and sober for your prayers (4:7)
31. Practice ungrudging hospitality (4:9)
32. Use gifts for one another (4:10-11)
33. Rejoice and glorify God in suffering for Christ (4:13, 16)
34. Do right and trust God when suffering according to God's will (4:19)
35. Elders, tend God's flock willingly and eagerly, by being examples (5:2-3)
36. Young Christians, be subject to elders (5:5)
37. Be humble toward man (5:5)
38. Be humble toward God (5:6)
39. Cast anxieties on God (5:7)
40. Be watchful (5:8)
41. Resist the devil (5:9)
42. Stand fast in God's grace (5:12)
43. Greet one another with a "kiss of love" (5:14)

Peter's Imperatives ( negative)

1. Don't be ruled by passions (1:14; 2:11)
2. Put away malice, guile, insincerity, envy, slander (2:1)
3. Wives, don't emphasize outward adornment (3:3)
4. Don't retaliate (3:9)
5. Don't be afraid of enemies (3:14)
6. Don't be troubled by enemies (3;14)
7. Don't suffer as a wrongdoer (4:15)
8. Don't be ashamed to suffer as a Christian (4:16)
9. Elders, don't dominate God's flock, or tend it by "constraint" or for "shameful gain" (5:2-3)