Temple, Exile and Identity in 1 Peter (Hardcover)

From the Publisher: Temple, Exile and Identity in 1 Peter will generate a fresh and perhaps even a new understanding of the main themes of 1 Peter, which include questions of identity, suffering, hope, holiness, and judgment. Mbuvi explores the use of cultic language in constituting the new identity of the Petrine community and argues that temple imagery undergirds the entire epistle of 1 Peter.|1 Peter directly connects the community's identity with the temple by describing it in terms reminiscent of the temple structure. He refers to the members of the community as 'living stones', constructing an image that has been categorized as a 'Temple-Community'. This concern with the temple mirrors the restoration eschatology of the Second Temple period. Restoration of Israel was also to be characterized by hope for the re-gathering of the scattered of Israel, the conversion or destruction of the Gentiles, and the establishment of God's universal reign, all of which are reflected in the discourse of the epistle.