Another intriguing aspect concerning the Biblical epistle of 1 Peter involves the recipients of this letter. Those recipients are identified in the very first verse of this epistle: “To God’s chosen people who are temporary residents in the world and are scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1).
We’ll take a closer look at this reference to those who are “…temporary residents in the world” in a future study. For now, let’s consider the regional areas that are mentioned here in the opening verse of this letter. Much like the New Testament epistle of James, 1 Peter was designed to be distributed over a wide geographic area and shared among many congregations.
Those provincial areas were located in what was then known as Asia Minor, a region that roughly corresponded with the modern-day country of Turkey. Asia Minor also served as a home to several other New Testament-era churches, such as Colossae, and the seven churches mentioned in Revelation chapters two and three. One commentary details the regional characteristics of that area, as well as its political climate…
“To reach the centers of the provinces of ancient Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) to which Peter was writing, his letter had to travel many hundreds of miles over rugged terrain and treacherous seas. The bearer of the letter would have encountered Jews and Gentiles, Christians and pagans, free citizens and slaves.
Some of the places in which the letter was read were cosmopolitan trade centers that were links between the Middle East and Europe. Other places were isolated villages. Yet throughout Asia Minor, small groups of Christians of a wide variety of social, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds would gather to hear God’s word, to praise God, and to encourage one another in the faith.
Although cultural progress may not have touched many of the cities in which Christians lived, hostility to the gospel and to Christians themselves was there. Christians were targets of attack because they no longer participated in pagan religious practices. Since they were the ones who abandoned the so-called gods of the people, Christians were blamed for everything from natural disasters to economic downturns. They were even more vulnerable because they were often strangers in a city, having been driven out of other cities by persecution or having come from a Jewish background.
These early Christians often had little security, low social status (many were slaves), and little recourse to government protection. Peter wrote to encourage them. They were pilgrims in this world heading to their glorious home in heaven.” (1)
(1) Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1999),