This Is True Grace: The Shaping of Social Behavioural Instructions by Theology in 1 Peter

How and in what respects are the Petrine social instructions shaped by the theological vision of the author of 1 Peter?

This publication investigates the coherence between the social behavioural instructions and the theological teachings found in 1 Peter. Engaging with the Balch-Elliott debate, Dr Joyce Sun argues that the core question should not be whether Christians should separate from, or accommodate to, wider society, but whether their behaviour is consistent with their ultimate allegiance to God. Sun convincingly demonstrates that the social distinctiveness of Christian communities was actively encouraged in the Petrine literature as a form of cultural and spiritual opposition to wider societal norms.

JOYCE WAI-LAN SUN is an assistant professor and the librarian at China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong. She obtained her PhD in New Testament Studies from the University of Edinburgh, UK and is a trained lawyer. She regularly writes on Christian identity and Christian social ethics and has published a number of academic articles.