Like other volumes in the New Testament Guides series, 1 Peter offers a concise and accessible introduction to a New Testament text, in this case aimed specifically at undergraduate-level students. It provides information on the likely historical and social setting of this letter, on its literary form and theological content, and on issues involved in its interpretation. It gives a balanced presentation and assessment of the range of scholarly views on such topics, with guidance for further reading and research. In particular, this volume suggests that 1 Peter is an important text not least for the ways in which it both reflects and constructs early Christian identity, in its relationships with Judaism and the Roman Empire. Although 1 Peter remains neglected compared with the canonical gospels and the major Pauline letters, Horrell argues that the letter deserves much more attention for the pivotal contribution it makes to the development of early Christianity and for the ways in which it reveals this development in progress.

Author Biography

Dr David G. Horrell is Reader in New Testament Studies in the Department of Theology at the University of Exeter, UK, and has taught Pauline studies for nearly fifteen years. He is the author of Solidarity and Difference (T&T Clark 2005) and The Social Ethos of the Corinthian Correspondence.