Introduction

Summary

What inspires people to read a text written two thousand years ago? For some readers, the biblical text carries a religious or spiritual message that they want to explore. Other readers may be drawn by curiosity about a text that was written long ago and which continues to influence the current political and cultural decisions of some members of the larger cultural milieu of the twenty-first century. Others may approach the text as an artifact of the ancient past with little connection to our current time. The reasons for reading the biblical text in general and 1 Peter in particular are various. The goal of this commentary is to introduce readers to the text of 1 Peter so that they can gain a deeper understanding of the message of the letter and become familiar with some of the most recent scholarship on it.