Another Way of Looking at The Situation of 1 Peter: Competing Affections
Perhaps one of the most significant
gifts that Augustine bequeathed to the church was his insistence that the
foundational problem of humanity is that we do not love (or desire) the right
things. The fourth-century bishop of Hippo develops this anthropological
insight in his On Christian Teaching, where he argues that in order for
Christians rightly to interpret and teach the Scriptures and thus live
flourishing and godly lives they must learn how to properly order their
affections:[1]
Now he is a man of just and holy life
who forms an unprejudiced estimate of things, and keeps his affections also
under strict control, so that he neither loves what he ought not to love, nor
fails to love what he ought to love nor loves that more which ought to be loved
less, nor loves that equally which ought to be loved either less or more, nor
loves that less or more which ought to be loved equally.[2]
In a catechetical treatise, Augustine
makes a similar point—this time by discussing love in relation to faith and
hope:
when we
ask whether somebody is a good person, we are not asking what he believes
or hopes for, but what he loves. For
one who rightly loves without doubt rightly
believes and hopes, and one who does not love believes in vain, even if the things
he believes are true; he hopes in vain, even if the things for which he hopes are
those which, according to our teaching, belong to true happiness, unless he also
believes and hopes that if he asks he may also be given the ability to love.[3]
In City of God, Augustine yet
again underscores his foundational insight regarding the human condition,
remarking that the primary difference between the earthly city and the city of
God is the object of its affection.[4] He further
elaborates that the inhabitants of the city of God demonstrate that their
affections are rightly ordered when they look for their reward in the
fellowship of the saints rather than looking for glory from men.[5]
For
Augustine, a proper ordering begins by aiming the affections towards the proper
end, or telos, which he describes as the enjoyment of the eternal and
unchangeable God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.[6] Augustine
acknowledges, however, that this proper ordering of the affections is a
process, or as he describes it, a journey: “since it is our duty to fully enjoy
[God]…the soul must be purified…And let us look upon this purification as a
kind of journey or voyage to our native land.”[7] He elaborates
further, writing that “a man is never in so good a state as when his whole life
is a journey towards the unchangeable life, and his affections are entirely
fixed upon that.”[8]
At
its core, 1 Peter is a pastoral letter concerned with helping Christians who
are suffering. It is important to underscore, however, that when Peter writes
of suffering, he is specifically addressing mistreatment that is a consequence
of one’s allegiance to Jesus Christ (e.g. 3.14; 4.2-4; 4.12-16).[9] We can glean from
within the letter that most of the 1 Peter addressees experienced suffering in
the form of ridicule, slander and social ostracism (2.12; 3.14-17; 4.2-4;
4.14-16): they were called names, accused of wrong-doing, and looked upon with
derision and skepticism because they placed their allegiance to Jesus Christ
above familial and civic obligations.[10] We must understand that in a culture in which
value, meaning, purpose and obligations are learned through the prism of honor
and shame, such as we find in first-century Asia Minor (1 Pet 1.1), slander and
ridicule have a very specific function: they are intended to re-direct wayward
group members back to the values, standards and obligations of the dominant
group (in the case of the 1 Peter addressees, their particular polis).[11] In other words, slander and ridicule are
forms of deviancy control; they are a culture’s way of saying “you are going
the wrong way; your allegiances are out of place!” The converse of this, of
course, is honor, whereby a culture rewards its members with praise and
accolades for embodying the values, vision and obligations of the dominant group.
If we were to restate the situation that the 1
Peter recipients were facing by using the framework and language of Augustine’s
insight regarding the affections, we might say that they were suffering because
their compeers were trying to compel them to re-order their misplaced
affections. Said in a manner that is in keeping with the observation Augustine
made in City of God, the 1 Peter
recipients were suffering because of their refusal to accept glory and honor
from the earthly polis. It is in this context of competing allegiances
and affections that Peter offers his pastoral response.
Given
that the letter has a pastoral aim, it is instructive to reflect upon the
strategy that Peter employs in order to accomplish his objective. Broadly
speaking his approach can be traced in two movements. First, he orients his
addressees theologically and eschatologically, providing an interpretive
framework for making sense of the social alienation his readers experience as a
result of aligning themselves with Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1.1-2.10). This
theological orientation is characterized as a journey towards an incorruptible
inheritance. Second, Peter offers a variety of exhortations that inform his
addressees how they ought to live in light of this new theological orientation
(esp. 2.11-5.14). These exhortations are undergirded with constant reference
(in a variety of manners) to the theological/eschatological orientation offered
at the beginning of the letter (i.e. 1 Pet 1.1-2.10).[12]
[1]
See especially On Christian Teaching
1.22-1.29. In this essay I am making no distinction between the words love,
desire, and affection.
[3] Augustine, The Augustine Catechism: The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love,
translated by Bruce Harbert,
edited by John E. Rotelle (Hyde Park,
NY: New City Press, 1999), 130.
[4] City
of God 14.28: “We see that the two cities were created by two kinds of
love…”; 19.24: “to observe the character of a particular people we must examine
the object of its love”. See also City of
God 14.11; 19.17.
[10] The letter also suggests that suffering could take the
form of physical abuse (e.g. 2.20), formal accusations (including public
trials; e.g. 3.15; 4.12-17) and perhaps even legal punishment resulting in
execution (e.g. 2.21-24).
[11]
For a helpful introduction to honor and shame in the Greco-Roman world see
David A. deSilva, Honor, Patronage,
Kinship and Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (Downers Grove, IL:
Intervarsity Press, 2000), 43-93.
[12]
For a comprehensive analysis of the argumentative strategy of 1 Peter see Kelly
D. Liebengood, The Eschatology of 1
Peter: Considering the Influence of Zechariah 9-14 (SNTSMS 157: Cambridge,
2014), 176-199.
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