In Front | 1 Peter and the Church Fathers

Peter’s name carried a lot of weight in the early church. Because of its length and its placement near the end of the New Testament, we may tend to overlook 1 Peter, but it was an important text for early Christians. We don’t have time to explore all of the relevant examples in this lesson, but you might make note of these and explore them on your own. 

One of the more notable uses of 1 Peter was by Pope Clement I, an early bishop of Rome, in his only authentic letter, 1 Clement. Some early Christians suggested that Peter personally ordained Clement for ministry, but there’s no way to know for sure. In any event, some of the references and allusions in 1 Clement to 1 Peter are listed below.

Another of the most well-known early Christians, Polycarp of Smyrna, also makes extensive use of 1 Peter in his Letter to the Philippians. Some of these uses are listed in the chart below, in the order in which they appear in the earlier letter.

Reference: John Hall Elliott, 1 Peter, 2000, pp. 138-143.