How to live well as a stranger somewhere that doesn't share your convictions.
Peter addresses the 'elect exiles' (eklektois parepidēmois) of the Diaspora, opening with a Trinitarian blessing praising God for a living hope through Christ's resurrection and an imperishable inheritance reserved in heaven. Present sufferings serve to prove the genuineness of faith, more precious than gold tested by fire. The chapter calls for holy living grounded in the redemption accomplished by Christ's precious blood, 'foreknown before the foundation of the world,' and the imperishable seed of God's living word.
The addressees in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia represent a wide geographic sweep of Roman Asia Minor. Their designation as 'exiles' (parepidēmois) may reflect both literal social displacement and theological identity as a pilgrim people. The letter likely dates to the early 60s AD, before Nero's systematic persecution.
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