Reading First Peter as Ancient Pedagogy : Discipleship, Suffering, and Social Identity (Novum Testamentum, Supplements)

In this book, Shane Patrick Gormley contends that we may fruitfully read First Peter as an exhortation on the nature of early Christian discipleship in accord with the standards and practices of ancient education. This, Gormley argues, is the key to making sense of the letter’s emphatic and strategic approach to its audiences’ suffering. In order to confront and endure this suffering, First Peter constructs for its audiences a tangible, relatable social identity—disciples, students—through which they may learn what it means to follow Christ and remain faithful to God even as they suffer.