Read this if you…
- want a letter written specifically to Christians under persecution
- like the "chosen generation, royal priesthood, peculiar people" framing
- curious about the "strangers and pilgrims" theology that runs through the New Testament
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Depicted in Art
Peter kneels in a dim cell, hands clasped over an open book in his lap, a shaft of light striking his face — the apostle caught between captivity and prayer.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1631
A maidservant points an accusing finger at Peter while a soldier looks on; Peter, half in shadow, raises both hands as his face crumples in denial.
Caravaggio, 1610
An aged Peter, hands clasped and eyes raised in tears, the keys of the kingdom hanging at his belt — the apostle in penitential prayer after the denial.
El Greco, 1605
A bearded Peter in papal pallium holds the keys of the kingdom against his chest, gazing upward — the apostle as foundation of the Church.
Peter Paul Rubens, 1611
Christ hands two large keys to a kneeling Peter at the center of a vast paved piazza, the other apostles ranked beside them and a domed temple rising behind.
Pietro Perugino, 1482
Peter is being lifted onto the inverted cross by three executioners, his elderly body twisted, his face turned in pained dignity toward the viewer.
Guido Reni, 1605
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Notable Quotes
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
- Martin Luther, German Reformer & theologian, 1483–1546: "…and St. Peter's first epistle are the true kernel and marrow of all the books."
- Erasmus, Dutch humanist & New Testament scholar, 1466–1536: "This epistle is full of apostolic dignity and authority and is worthy of the leader among the apostles."
- Charles Spurgeon, Victorian Baptist preacher, 1834–1892: "I might almost entitle these three verses a New Testament Psalm. They are stanzas of a majestic song."
- John Wesley, Founder of Methodism, 1703–1791: "There is a wonderful weightiness, and yet liveliness and sweetness, in the epistles of St. Peter."
- John Calvin, Geneva Reformer & theologian, 1509–1564: Peter's design is to call the faithful to deny the world and aspire, through hope and patient perseverance, after the celestial kingdom of Christ.