Loading...1 Peter at a Glance
- 1 Peter claims to be written by Simon Peter, the close disciple of Jesus. Modern scholars have shown
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1. Doesn’t 2 Peter 3:4 make it clear that it was written after the first generation of disciples? 2. Was 2 Peter based on Jude, or merely used material from it?
1. Yes. and 2. I’m not sure what the difference is.
Hi, Bart. I’m slowly working through your old blog posts. I’m at https://ehrmanblog.org/should-the-old-testament-even-be-in-the-bible/ and I just found this paragraph:
“The Hebrew Bible was their [Christians’] one and only Scripture. … It was absolutely, and literally, to be followed. All of it: circumcision; Sabbath observance; kosher food laws; festivals. This view never completely died out. We know of Christian groups who adhered to it for centuries. Some still do today. “
My question is, what Christian groups today keep circumcision, kosher food laws, etc.? I could think of a group that keeps some of those things, but all of them?
Thanks.
Messianic Jews today do.
The more I study the rhetorical techniques/strategies of the ancient world, and the more I reflect on Jesus as a rabbi and on how others recognized Peter had been with him (despite illiteracy), the more I’m convinced that even an ancient illiterate person could construct complex well-structured arguments.
The kind of reasoning required for ancient persuasion is different from the skill of reading/writing. It’s designed specifically to not depend on them and therefore could come naturally to someone educated later in life.
While it’s true 1Peter shares similarities with Paul, what’s interesting is where they’re CLOSEST. A comparison of 1 Peter 4:1–11 with 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 reveals nearly identical themes: both warn against hedonistic passions associated with Gentile behavior, both speak of God’s judgment on those who persist in sin, both address eschatological concerns, both mention those who’ve already died and the preaching of the gospel to them, and both stress the importance of mutual love.
What’s especially intriguing is both letters also reference Silas’s involvement in their composition. This suggests that parallels between them may reflect the collaborative nature of early Christian letter writing where trusted coworkers not only helped draft/compile the texts but may have woven in their own perspectives.