Recent studies of 1 Peter, especially by John Elliott, have sought to rescue the
letter from its assimilation to the Pauline tradition and to establish the view, now
widely held, that 1 Peter is the distinctive product of a Petrine circle. After
examining the traditions in 1 Peter, both Pauline and non-Pauline, and the names in
the letter (Silvanus, Mark and Peter), this essay argues that there is no
substantial evidence, either inside or outside the letter, to support the view of 1
Peter as originating from a specifically Petrine group. It is much more plausibly
seen as re‘ ecting the consolidation of early Christian traditions in
Roman Christianity. Despite the scholarly majority currently in its favour, the view
of 1 Peter as the distinctive product of a Petrine tradition from a Petrine circle
should therefore be rejected.
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