Abstract
Interpreters of the Prima Petri describe in divergent ways the historical relations between the letter's correspondents—the recipients and the author—and the established social order. According to some scholars, the text bears witness to a socially conformist Christianity in the context of Anatolian society, protesting only in the religious sphere. For others, the letter reveals a Christian movement deeply critical of the dominant social system. The continuing disagreement between scholars on this point is an invitation to reconsider the problem. We do so in this article primarily using the concepts of “voluntary utopian group” and “implicit social protest” as developed by French sociologist Jean Séguy.