Abstract
Although small in size, 1 Peter contains some big ideas. In particular, Marcar shows how the letter frames a new sense of identity and status for its recipients. This volume is a revised version of a doctoral thesis written at Durham University, primarily under the supervision of Lutz Doering. The study draws upon interdisciplinary insights from the field of linguistics. Specifically, it employs Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) to better map and to understand the symbolic language of 1 Peter in regard both to the group’s new found identity as part of the Jesus movement and its self-understand as having undergone a process of divine regeneration.
The volume is arranged with an introduction and nine chapters (including the conclusion). The introduction sets out the central argument of this monograph. As Marcar states this, I argue that the ascription of believers’ ethnic identity in 2:9-10 is founded on the complex metaphor of divine regeneration and its familial entailments. Just as physical ethnic identities are established primarily by birth into a particular group, the Petrine author ascribes to believers a divine regeneration that ushers them into a new ethnic community. Those who have been begotten anew have become a new γένος, the people of God’ (p. 1).
Additionally, Marcar notes that identity is not just a matter of birth. It is constructed by being part of a social group where communal perspectives and values must be taught and require adherence. Thus notions of new birth and spiritual formation coalesce to shape the identity of group members.
After the introduction, in the first chapter the study explores notions of ethnicity that are found in both ancient and modern contexts. Here Marcar states that among the writings that were later to form the New Testament, ‘Christians are explicitly described as an ethnic group in 1 Peter’ (p. 7). Here it might have been helpful to have some sense of when Marcar might date 1 Peter. The reason for this is because it is unclear whether writings such as Paul’s authentic letters from the 50s and 60s are the best comparators, or whether some of the earlier writings among the Apostolic Fathers in the early second century may have formed a better comparison. If 1 Peter were written closer to, or even around the beginning of the second century, then perhaps it is reflective of a wider emerging tendency to formulate Christian identity more in ethnic terms. From this starting point, Marcar draws upon the work of Anthony Smith which explores the distinctive features of ethnic identity. Smith has identified six key elements: a common name, a myth of collective descent, a shared history, a distinctive shared culture, an association with a specific territory, and a sense of solidarity. Furthermore, Marcar discusses David Horrell’s identification of each of these elements in 1 Peter. Marcar build upon these insights by noting that in 1 Peter identity is a response to the perceived hostility from non-group members. Following on from these insights based on modern perspectives on ethnicity, the study considers wider conceptions of identity especially with regard to Jewish ethnicity in the Second Temple period (pp. 15-21), with a shorter consideration of ancient Greek ethnicity (pp. 21-23). With regard to ancient Jewish conceptions of ethnicity, Marcar notes both a narrower strand of thinking that viewed Jewish ethnicity as dependent on birth as the only means of entrance into group membership alongside a more fluid conception of ethnicity that allowed for others to become part of Judaism. Marcar’s key point is that the author of 1 Peter retains the importance of a putative common decent while assuming that an individual can nevertheless be drawn into a new ethnic group (p. 23).
The second chapter sets out the theoretical framework to be employed. Drawing upon linguistic insights, it outlines the function of metaphors to form the symbolic world that shape the sense of new ethnic identity that the author of 1 Peter promotes among the letter’s recipients. Here the problems inherent in defining the concept of metaphor are discussed. At this point, it might have proved helpful to also draw upon the work of Rueben Zimmerman who has written widely on metaphor theory in relation to the study of the New Testament. Rather than providing a single definition of metaphor, Marcar offers eleven points that help to illustrate the ways in which metaphors function. This multifaceted description is both a strength but also raises questions about such an open-ended category. This is because it is difficult to see what, if any, literary image would be excluded by this wide-ranging set of features. However, that complexity may in fact reflect the reality of the scope of metaphorical imagery.
The remaining chapters focus upon the relevant texts under consideration. In chapter three, Marcar first provides a helpful overview of 1 Peter and its structure. Next, chapter four provides greater attention to the key idea of regeneration, expressed using the key Greek terms ἀωαγεννάω and παλιγγενεσία. The study focuses on these key concepts in order to perform the task of Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) at the end of the chapter. Here, it is noted that there is a similarity to the ideas found in the Gospel of John where Jesus informs Nicodemus of the need to be born anew. Furthermore, it is argued that ‘it is much more likely that the Christian theme of divine regeneration was a development of the Jewish traditions of God as divine begetter, not from any influence of the mystery cults’ (p. 116). Following a similar pattern, in the next three chapters Marcar examines a series of literary images found in 1 Peter and where appropriate draws in parallels from Second Temple literature. Thus, in chapter five (pp. 118-168) seed metaphors are examined in reference to the imperishable seed mentioned in 1 Pet 1:23-25. Here there is an extended discussion on the use of holy seed metaphors in Jewish writings, with a focus on the Book of Jubilees. Chapter six discusses the natal images of new-born babies and spiritual milk (pp. 169-197). Then in chapter seven the house of God metaphor is examined with parallels drawn from Qumran literature where the community is portrayed as a temple (pp. 198-253). Having assembled this data, Marcar draws some overarching conclusions based on a mapping of systematic metaphors in 1 Peter. First, it is noted that the language of God as father is highly conventional in early Christianity. Second, there are clusters of images – the infancy cluster in 1 Pet 2:2-3 and the stone cluster in 2:4-8. Third, that familial metaphors are clustered at the beginning and end of the letter and ethnicity language is clustered in 2:9-10 (pp. 259-260). From these observations it is argued that the author bases the formulation of Christian identity on the experience of social ostracism. That is, according to 1 Peter, group membership entails belong to a sojourning people (p. 260). Moreover, through deploying a set of metaphors pertaining to divine regeneration the author structures the entire theological and ethic programme contained in the letter.
This study of the metaphor of regeneration in 1 Peter breaks new ground by considering that concept in light the theory Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP). Marcar’s study not only brings greater precision to analysing how such metaphors are deployed, but also provides a greater understanding of the key purposes of the text. This is an important work which will be consulted widely by all working on the theology and imagery contained in the rich epistolary writing that is 1 Peter.