Simon Peter has left for us a literary legacy remarkable for its brevity. It is true that the Gospel of Mark may be in effect the memoirs of Peter, as tradition asserts, in that he doubtless provided the basic anecdotes there recorded by his young friend, but beyond that we have only two brief letters which are attributed to him.
The first epistle of Peter is addressed to what the American Standard Version calls the "sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia" (1:1), and it appears that the recipients of this letter were men of Jewish background who had become Christians and were now "sojourners"— in other words temporary residents— of these five provinces of Asia Minor. How Peter originally came in contact with his correspondents is not certainly known, though the fact that men from Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia apparently heard his famous sermon on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:9) may help to explain his special interest in the people of these and near-by provinces. It is suggested that Peter was in "Babylon" when he composed this letter (I Peter 5:13), and since Babylon was often employed at that period as a cryptic title for "Rome," it is probable that the apostle was indeed living in "the Eternal City" at that time. A wave of persecution was sweeping over Asia Minor, and the Christian churches there were being severely tested by a "fiery trial" (4:12), while the very name of "Christian" was being held in contempt. But the apostle would have his readers glory and rejoice in their "manifold temptations" (1:6), in that they were found worthy to share in a measure such trials as were encountered by the Master himself, who had provided for them a glorious example of steadfastness which they might well emulate (2:21). Then, too, Peter commends to his correspondents such virtues as love and vigilance, faith and hope, warning them to be ever on the alert to withstand the attacks of their "adversary the devil" (5:8).
Turning to what our Common Version calls "The Second Epistle General of Peter," we find that many authorities regard the letter as prepared by Peter shortly before his martyrdom, in or about 67 A.D., especially in view of the vivid references to the transfiguration and other Gospel scenes in which he is known to have shared. We gather from the opening verses of chapter 3 that "the second epistle" is sent as a reminder to those who had received the first; but while the former letter deals primarily with points of conduct, the latter is more doctrinal in scope. The writer warns against "false teachers" (II Peter 2:1), insisting upon the necessity of a true Christian Gnosis —a word meaning literally either "knowledge" or "science"—as opposed to the material and human intellectuality favored by opponents of the true faith. "Grow in grace," the apostle writes, "and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (3:18).
