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1. First Peter The Epistle of 1 Peter is the earliest extant writing associating itself with Peter. Because the ecclesiastical and cultural situation reflected in the letter suggests it was written during the period after a.d. 70, scholars since the 19th century have generally assumed deutero-Petrine authorship. F. C. Baur (1792–1860) viewed it as a mediation text between Jews and Pauline Christianity, though one 20th-century line of thought viewed it more as a deutero-Pauline writing. Recent scholars have uncovered several elements suggesting a more independent origin. ¶ Although the address in 1:1–2 coincides with the Pauline mission to Gentile Christians, it is formulated more according to the Jewish diaspora letter and the Jewish understanding of election (note the triadic formula in v. 2). This latter element acquires a more radical articulation in the basic theological exposition of 1:3–2:10. Those elected in faith in Christ now claim the prophets (1:10–12) and Israel’s royal priesthood (2:9, citing Exod. 19:6; 23:22; from the time of the Reformation, this was the key text supporting the notion of the priesthood of all belie…