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Restored Order

Subordination and Freedom in 1 Peter

by Steve Carter (Author)
©2021 Monographs XX, 318 Pages
Open Access
Series: Studies in Biblical Literature, Volume 175

Summary

The concept of subordination plays a prominent role in the paranesis of 1 Peter, and it appears too in the context of Christ’s victory over the cosmic powers. It seems to presuppose some kind of given natural and social order in which people must live in their allotted place. But the author also sees his readers’ subordination as conditioned by their status as free people, which he expounds in several passages.
This investigation aims to clarify the meaning and relationship of the concepts of subordination and freedom in 1 Peter, with reference to the related idea of order. After an introduction that sets out the issues in detail, the first main section examines the three themes in the wider thought of the first century CE, and the second provides detailed exegesis of the key Petrine texts. A final chapter synthesizes this evidence and draws conclusions regarding the conceptuality of subordination and freedom expressed in the letter.
The study presents the idea of "restored order" as a new interpretive key to the teaching and paranesis of 1 Peter and the significant New Testament tradition to which it belongs. It clarifies the important Petrine concepts of subordination and freedom, with that of order, within the letter as a whole and its constituent parts, and it illuminates the exegesis of various disputed texts and passages. Scholars and research students of 1 Peter and the wider New Testament will find here a compelling proposal to stimulate and inform their own engagement with the text.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Advance praise
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Contents
  • Series Editor’s Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Order, Subordination and Freedom in Greco-Roman Thought
  • 3 Order, Subordination and Freedom in Early Jewish Thought
  • 4 Order, Subordination and Freedom in Early Christian Thought
  • 5 Subordination and Freedom in 1 Peter 2:13–17
  • 6 Subordination in Other 1 Peter Texts
  • 7 Freedom in Other 1 Peter Texts
  • 8 Synthesis and Conclusions
  • Appendix 1: ὑποτάσσω and ἐλεύθεροι/ἐλευθερία
  • Appendix 2: Questions of Introduction
  • Bibliography
  • Index
  • Series index

←vi | vii→

Series Editor’s Preface

More than ever the horizons in biblical literature are being expanded beyond that which is immediately imagined; important new methodological, theological, and hermeneutical directions are being explored, often resulting in significant contributions to the world of biblical scholarship. It is an exciting time for the academy as engagement in biblical studies continues to be heightened.

This series seeks to make available to scholars and institutions, scholarship of a high order, and which will make a significant contribution to the ongoing biblical discourse. This series includes established and innovative directions, covering general and particular areas in biblical study. For every volume considered for this series, we explore the question as to whether the study will push the horizons of biblical scholarship. The answer must be yes for inclusion.

In this well documented and cogently argued study Steve Carter explores and relates the relationship between subordination and freedom in 1 Peter. While a number of studies have been done on 1 Peter, Carter’s study provides a much more systematic argument including the refined definitions of subordination, freedom and order. While detailing the arguments of the already established studies on 1 Peter, Carter advances the very persuasive arguments that freedom and subordination are not antithetical, but in fact provide the necessary foundation for a divinely instituted restoration of order. Therefore, he argues, subordination ←vii | viii→is not designed to be a loss of freedom but the platform of freedom. Indeed, as the author pivots on 1 Peter 2:16, he notes that while this is a principal text that connects both subordination and freedom, with a number questions, a detailed and thorough examination has not been executed. This study provides such an exegetical and interpretive examination.

This excellent study is certain to generate ongoing discourse, particularly given the evidence of the way it is understood and attended to in communities of faith. For an understanding of the Petrine idea of order in both the household and society, this study will be an essential read. This study will certainly invite further conversation.

The horizon has been expanded.

Hemchand Gossai
Series Editor

←viii | ix→

Acknowledgments

This work originated as a PhD thesis written at Bristol Baptist College and submitted to the University of Aberdeen. Appreciation and thanks are due to the following:

Dr. Steve Finamore, primary supervisor, for careful oversight of the project, incisive questions and insightful comments, and encouragement at every stage.

Dr. Peter Hatton, secondary supervisor, for valuable help with the Jewish background sources reviewed in Chapter 3.

Dr. John Nolland and Dr. Larry Kreitzer, upgrade viva examiners, for helpful guidance.

Professor David Horrell and Dr. Jamie Davies, final viva examiners, for thorough and illuminating engagement with the content, and important suggestions for preparing the manuscript for publication.

Dr. Justin Stratis and the postgraduate research team at Trinity College Bristol, for stimulating conferences and seminars, and for practical help.

Dr. Michael Brealey, librarian at Bristol Baptist College, for positive and gracious responses to numerous requests for acquisitions; also Su Brown, librarian at Trinity College Bristol, and the staff of the Arts and Social Sciences Library of the University of Bristol and the Sir Duncan Rice Library of the University of Aberdeen, for help with books and articles.

←ix | x→

The faculty, staff and students of Bristol Baptist College, for creating an environment so conducive to biblical research, and for valued support.

Dr. Hemchand Gossai, editor of Studies in Biblical Literature, for accepting this work for inclusion in the series, and Dr. Philip Dunshea and the team at Peter Lang Publishing, for excellent professional help in bringing it to publication.

Dorothy Mary Carter, a relative, whose legacy made possible the extended career break in which this project was undertaken.

←x | xi→

Abbreviations

Primary Sources

Hebrew Bible

Gn

Ru

Ezr

Sg

Jl

Zep

Ex

1 Sm

Neh

Isa

Am

Hag

Lv

2 Sm

Est

Jer

Ob

Zec

Nm

1 Kgs

Jb

Lam

Jon

Mal

Dt

2 Kgs

Ps/s

Ez

Mi

Jo

1 Chr

Prv

Dn

Na

Jgs

2 Chr

Eccl

Hos

Hb

New Testament

Mt

Rom

Phil

2 Tm

1 Pt

Jude

Mk

1 Cor

Col

Ti

2 Pt

Rv

Lk

2 Cor

1 Thes

Phlm

1 Jn

Jn

Gal

2 Thes

Heb

2 Jn

Acts

Eph

1 Tm

Jas

3 Jn

←xi | xii→

Apocrypha

Tb

Tobit

Jdt

Judith

Rest of Est

Additions to Esther

Ws

Wisdom of Solomon

Sir

Sirach

Bar

Baruch

S of III Ch

Song of the Three Jews

1 Mc

1 Maccabees

2 Mc

2 Maccabees

3 Mc

3 Maccabees

4 Ezr

4 Ezra

4 Mc

4 Maccabees

Pseudepigrapha

Apoc. Abr.

Apocalypse of Abraham

2 Bar.

2 Baruch

1 Enoch

1 Enoch

2 Enoch

2 Enoch

Ep. Arist.

Letter of Aristeas

Exag.

Exagoge (of Ezekiel the Tragedian)

Jos. and As.

Joseph and Asenath

Jub.

Jubilees

Ps-Phoc.

Pseudo-Phocylides

Pss. Sol.

Psalms of Solomon

Sib. Or.

Sibylline Oracles

T. Abr.

Testament of Abraham

T. Jud.

Testament of Judah

T. Levi

Testament of Levi

T. Mos.

Testament of Moses

T. Reub.

Testament of Reuben

Classical and Hellenistic Authors

Aristotle

Eth. Nic.

Nicomachean Ethics

Metaph.

Metaphysics

Pol.

Politics

←xii | xiii→

Arius Didymus

Perip. Eth.

Epitome of Peripatetic Ethics

Stoic Eth.

Epitome of Stoic Ethics

Bryson

Econ.

Management of the Estate

Callicratidas

Estate

On the Happiness of the Estate

Cicero

Acad.

Academics

De Fin.

On Ends

De Leg.

On the Laws

De. Rep.

On the Republic

De Fato

On Fate

Nat. Deor.

On the Nature of the Gods

Dio Chrysostom

Disc.

Discourses

Diogenes Laertius

Vit.

Lives of Eminent Philosophers

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Ant. Rom.

Roman Antiquities

Epictetus

Disc.

Discourses

Hierocles

Fath.

On Duties: How to Conduct Oneself toward One’s Fatherland

Gods

On Duties: How to Conduct Oneself toward the Gods

Hous. Manag.

On Duties: Household Management

Marr.

On Duties: On Marriage

Par.

On Duties: How to Conduct Oneself toward One’s Parents

←xiii | xiv→

Josephus

Ag. Ap.

Against Apion

Ant.

Antiquities of the Jews

J.W.

Jewish War

Musonius Rufus

Lect.

Lectures & Sayings

Philo

Abr.

On Abraham

Aet. Mund.

On the Eternity of the World

Decal.

On the Decalogue

Ebr.

On Drunkenness

Flacc.

Against Flaccus

Fug.

On Flight and Finding

Heir

Who is the Heir of Divine Things?

Jos.

On Joseph

Leg. All.

Allegorical Interpretation of Genesis 2 and 3

Mos.

On Moses

Omn. Prob. Lib.

Every Good Man is Free

Op. Mund.

On the Creation

Prelim. Stud.

Preliminary Studies

Prv.

On Providence

Quaest. in Ex.

Questions on Exodus

Sacr.

The Sacrifices of Abel and Cain

Somn.

On Dreams

Spec. Leg.

On the Special Laws

Vit. Cont.

On the Contemplative Life

Philodemus

Prop. Manag.

On Property Management

Plato

Leg.

Laws

Polit.

Statesman

Rep.

Republic

Tim.

Timaeus

←xiv | xv→

Plutarch

Bride

Advice to Bride and Groom

Delays

On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance

Gener.

On the Generation of the Soul in the Timaeus

Mor. Virt.

On Moral Virtue

Prog. Virt.

How a Man May Become Aware of His Progress in Virtue

State

Precepts of Statecraft

Superst.

Superstition

Ps-Aristotle

Mag. Mor.

Great Ethics

Oec.

The Management of Households

Ps-Melissa

Klear.

Letter to Klearata

Ps-Theano

Eub.

Letter to Eubule

Nikos.

Letter to Nikostrate

Seneca the Younger

Ep.

Epistles

Ep. Mor.

Moral Essays

Nat. Quaest.

Natural Questions

Vit. Beat.

Details

Pages
XX, 318
Publication Year
2021
ISBN (PDF)
9781433192425
ISBN (ePUB)
9781433192432
ISBN (MOBI)
9781433192913
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781433190438
DOI
10.3726/b18913
Open Access
CC-BY
Language
English
Publication date
2021 (December)
Published
New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Oxford, Wien, 2021. XX, 318 pp.

Biographical notes

Steve Carter (Author)

Steve Carter received his PhD from the University of Aberdeen in 2018, having undertaken his research at Bristol Baptist College. He has worked for twenty years as an editor, writer and manager for various publishers and charities.

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Title: Restored Order