2. THE DATE OF THE PERSECUTIONS
From the persecutions presupposed in First Peter no very certain conclusion can be drawn with regard to the date of the epistle. A late date has sometimes been inferred from such passages as I Peter 4:16. Christians were not punished as Christians, it is said, until the beginning of the second century, and especially no such persecution was carried out in the early period throughout the whole empire. Ch. 5:9.
This argument breaks down at a number of points. In the first place, as has already been observed, it is by no means clear that First Peter presupposes a persecution of the Christians simply as Christians. Apparently special charges of immorality were still in the foreground, though these charges were often mere pretexts in order to secure the punishment of members of the hated sect.
In the second place, it is not clear exactly when Christians first began to be punished as "Christians" by the Roman authorities. Undoubtedly the legal basis for such persecution was present as soon as Christianity began to be regarded as separate from Judaism. Judaism had a legal status; Christianity, strictly speaking, had none.
3. DEPENDENCE AND ORIGINALITY
First Peter is clearly dependent upon a number of the Pauline Epistles, and apparently also upon the Epistle of James. The dependence, however, is by no means slavish; the epistle possesses marked characteristics of its own. As compared with Paul, for example, First Peter is somewhat simpler both in thought and in expression. No mere imitator, but a genuine personality, speaks to us from the noble simplicity of these pages.
4. COMPARISON WITH THE SPEECHES OF PETER
It is interesting to compare this epistle with the early speeches of Peter that are recorded in The Acts. Part of the difference—similarities also have been pointed out—no doubt, was due to the difference in the persons addressed. In those early speeches, Peter was preaching to unconverted Jews, and had to content himself with a few outstanding facts. In the epistle, he was addressing Christians, before whom he could lay bare the deep things of the faith. Nevertheless, the passing years had brought a change in Peter himself. Upon him as upon everyone else the mighty influence of Paul made itself felt; and even the revelation which came directly to him was progressive. The essence of the gospel was present from the beginning; but the rich unfolding of it which appears in First Peter was the product of long years spent in an ever-widening service.
5. THE STYLE OF THE EPISTLE
The style of First Peter, though not at all rhetorical, like that of Hebrews, is smooth and graceful. It has often been considered strange that a fisherman of Galilee should have been so proficient in Greek. But probably we have an exaggerated notion of the poverty and roughness of the first disciples of Jesus. Undoubtedly they had not enjoyed a rabbinical education; in the technical Jewish sense they were "unlearned and ignorant men." Acts 4:13. Nevertheless, they clearly did not belong at all to the lowest of the population; Peter in particular seems to have been possessed of considerable property. Furthermore, it must be remembered that Greek culture in the first century was making itself felt very extensively in Galilee. No doubt Peter could use Greek even before he left Galilee, and in the course of his later life his linguistic attainments must have been very greatly improved. It is by no means impossible that he wrote First Peter entirely without assistance.