Like other volumes in the New Testament Guides series, 1 Peter offers a concise and accessible introduction to a New Testament text, in this case aimed specifically at undergraduate-level students.

The book provides information on the likely historical and social setting of this letter, on its literary form and theological content, and on issues involved in its interpretation. It gives a balanced presentation and assessment of the range of scholarly views on such topics, with guidance for further reading and research. In particular, this volume suggests that 1 Peter is an important text not least for the ways in which it both reflects and constructs early Christian identity, in its relationships with Judaism and the Roman Empire.

Although 1 Peter remains neglected compared with the canonical gospels and the major Pauline letters, David Horrell argues that the letter deserves much more attention for the pivotal contribution it makes to the development of early Christianity and for the ways in which it reveals this development in progress.

David G. Horrell is Professor of New Testament Studies at the University of Exeter, UK. He is the author of several books, including An Introduction to the Study of Paul. He was the editor of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament from 2002-2007. He is an active member of the British New Testament Society, having chaired the Social World of the New Testament Seminar from 2001-2006, and is also a member of the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) and Society for New Testament Studies (SNTS). He completed his PhD at Cambridge on Paul’s Corinthian letters and the letter known as 1 Clement.