E THE CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY OF PETER The character of Peter has been scrutinized perhaps more than that of any other man or woman of the Bible It is a happy circumstance that the New Testament reveals much about this interesting man A man’s character may change radically in his lifetime, such as happens in the conversion of his soul His basic temperament, however, is part of his permanent image.6 For example, Peter was always an aggressive man, full of energy In his early days as a disciple of Jesus, this brought on unfortunate consequences, such as Peter’s rash act of cutting o the ear of the high priest’s servant, Malchus (John 18:10-11) After Pentecost, Peter was still the man of action, but that basic temperament had undergone some radical experiences, including the Holy Spirit’s baptism (Acts 2) This gave birth to a new passion and a mature vision, so that now the yet-aggressive man named Peter was the powerful preacher and courageous leader of the earliest New Testament church community Peter in Acts is a di erent character from the Peter found in the gospels, but his basic temperament is essentially the same Various character traits have been attributed to Peter at some time in his life Among the descriptions are: unstable, daring, weak, humble, energetic, courageous, devoted as a servant, hasty, strong in faith, impulsive, strong in leadership, self-con dent As to what kind of man he was in the last decade or so of his life, our only source is his inspired writing during those years — the two epistles that bear his name After you have surveyed the epistles, try arriving at a character identification of the apostle at that time III BACKGROUND A AUTHORSHIP First Peter is one of those Bible books whose authorship is identi ed by name “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to …” (1:1) As to genuineness of this authorship, the epistle is one of the best attested books of the New Testament When Peter wrote this letter he was an elderly man, as seen from 5:1: “I … your fellow-elder” (cf 5:5, “younger”) How else did Peter identify himself in 5:1? B DESTINATION The natural, literal meaning of 1:1 is that this epistle was sent to people who were living in various Roman provinces of northern Asia Minor, namely, Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (see Map T, p 296) They were believers (5:2), and apparently had moved to those regions because of persecution (“aliens, scattered,” 1:1) Peter’s interest in these areas may have originated in evangelistic work to which he had devoted himself some time between the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15, A.D 49) and the Neronian persecutions at Rome (A.D 64) From the Acts account we learn that Paul did not evangelize northern Asia Minor on his missionary tours — in fact, on the one occasion when he began to move northward into this vicinity, he was forbidden by the Holy Spirit, who directed him to Troas, from there to Macedonia (Acts 16:6-12) It is di cult to determine the exact ... an apostle of Jesus Christ, to …” (1:1) As to genuineness of this authorship, the epistle is one of the best attested books of the New Testament When Peter wrote this letter he was an elderly... of man he was in the last decade or so of his life, our only source is his inspired writing during those years — the two epistles that bear his name After you have surveyed the epistles, try... including the Holy Spirit’s baptism (Acts 2) This gave birth to a new passion and a mature vision, so that now the yet-aggressive man named Peter was the powerful preacher and courageous leader of the