1 Peter is often neglected as insignificant compared to Paul's letters. J. Ramsey Michaels in-depth treatment establishes 1 Peter as a major "social tract" written in response to a round of social crises and persecution facing Christians in the first century. The introduction shows how 1 Peter represents a document of a distinctive, non-Pauline Christianity. Michaels cautiously accepts the tradition that the Apostle Peter was the author of this "Diaspora letter" to Gentile Christians in Asia Minor, even while taking account of the tradition's difficulties. The Word Biblical Commentary is a scholarly approach to the scriptures.
