Ecclesiology and the Scriptural Narrative

A study of 1 Peter, showing how the text's model of the Church, based on participation in Christ's atoning suffering, is influenced by the Old Testament.

The relationship between the Church and the Scriptures of Israel is fraught with complexities, particularly about how the first Christians read Scripture alongside the Gospel of Christ. Patrick T. Egan examines the text of 1 Peter in the light of its numerous quotations of Scripture and demonstrates how the epistle sets forth a scriptural narrative that explains the nature and purpose of the Church. Egan argues that 1 Peter sets forth an ecclesiology based in a participatory Christology, in which the Church endures suffering in imitation of Jesus's role as the suffering servant. The epistle admonishes the Church to a high moral standard in response to Christ's atoning work while also encouraging the Church to place hope in God's final vindication of his people. Addressing the churches of Asia Minor, 1 Peter applies the Scriptural narrative to the Church in unexpected ways.

Patrick T. Egan is Dean of the Upper School at Providence Classical Christian Academy in St. Louis and Research Tutor in New Testament at King’s Evangelical Divinity School in the UK.