INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER

“…This book was written by the apostle Peter, and was addressed to the Jewish believers who were in the region of Asia Minor, or present day Turkey [i.e. to the believer Jewish Diaspora residing in Asia Minor].  It was written after the writings of Paul, probably around A.D. 65 to 67.  There is some question as to where Peter was when he wrote this letter.  He offers greetings from the church in Babylon (1 Pet. 5:13), but we aren’t sure what he meant by Babylon.  There are those who suggest that this is literal Babylon, which was in present-day Iraq.  There are others who say that Peter was actually in Rome at this time and was using Babylon as a code word for Rome.  This is probably the majority opinion among scholars.  (Revelation 17 is another passage of Scripture that seems to refer to Rome as Babylon.)  Tradition says Peter was martyred in Rome, so if it was written from Rome it was probably near the end of Peter’s life.  The theme of the book is suffering.  The Christians were now undergoing increasingly intense suffering and needed to be instructed and encouraged in light of this suffering.  They needed to understand that suffering is a normal part of the Christian life and that it was a way to relate to the suffering of Jesus, which Peter had witnessed personally…” [THE WORD FOR TODAY BIBLE, New King James Version, excerpts from “Introduction To The First Epistle Of Peter,” by Pastor Chuck Smith, selected portions, p. 1640]