The Relationship Between Submission and Sacrifice in the First Letter of Peter

The First Epistle of Peter is a writing that addresses a new way of understanding and practicing worship among the followers of Jesus. The Christians, recipients of the letter, due to the imminent identity distinction from the Jews and their distancing from the practices of imperial worship, live in...

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Main Author: María José Schultz Montalbetti
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/5/655
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author María José Schultz Montalbetti
author_facet María José Schultz Montalbetti
author_sort María José Schultz Montalbetti
collection DOAJ
description The First Epistle of Peter is a writing that addresses a new way of understanding and practicing worship among the followers of Jesus. The Christians, recipients of the letter, due to the imminent identity distinction from the Jews and their distancing from the practices of imperial worship, live in a difficult social and religious situation. This situation demands the author to recall the theological foundations of Christian identity and redefine the meaning of traditional ritual concepts in new ethical and communal terms. This article, through a historical and theological analysis, examines the concepts of “sacrifice” and “submission” in their Christian reinterpretation and how they shape the worship practices of Jesus’ followers. To this end, the cultic elements present in the exhortative discourse are analyzed to explore the development of their theological significance at the dawn of the second century. Furthermore, considering the current appreciation of these attitudes as outdated values, this article evaluates whether the ethical discourse of the letter can have an impact on contemporary society. The study seeks to offer a renewed reading of 1 Peter that contributes to understanding the particularity of Christian worship in the Greco-Roman society of the first century and to ascertain whether its message is still relevant today.
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spelling doaj-art-5b39a5341f604ee28efeb676b4df306a2025-08-20T02:33:55ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-05-0116565510.3390/rel16050655The Relationship Between Submission and Sacrifice in the First Letter of PeterMaría José Schultz Montalbetti0Facultad de Teología, Universidad de Deusto, 48007 Bilbao, SpainThe First Epistle of Peter is a writing that addresses a new way of understanding and practicing worship among the followers of Jesus. The Christians, recipients of the letter, due to the imminent identity distinction from the Jews and their distancing from the practices of imperial worship, live in a difficult social and religious situation. This situation demands the author to recall the theological foundations of Christian identity and redefine the meaning of traditional ritual concepts in new ethical and communal terms. This article, through a historical and theological analysis, examines the concepts of “sacrifice” and “submission” in their Christian reinterpretation and how they shape the worship practices of Jesus’ followers. To this end, the cultic elements present in the exhortative discourse are analyzed to explore the development of their theological significance at the dawn of the second century. Furthermore, considering the current appreciation of these attitudes as outdated values, this article evaluates whether the ethical discourse of the letter can have an impact on contemporary society. The study seeks to offer a renewed reading of 1 Peter that contributes to understanding the particularity of Christian worship in the Greco-Roman society of the first century and to ascertain whether its message is still relevant today.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/5/655sacrificesubmissionworshippriesthoodofferingservice
spellingShingle María José Schultz Montalbetti
The Relationship Between Submission and Sacrifice in the First Letter of Peter
Religions
sacrifice
submission
worship
priesthood
offering
service
title The Relationship Between Submission and Sacrifice in the First Letter of Peter
title_full The Relationship Between Submission and Sacrifice in the First Letter of Peter
title_fullStr The Relationship Between Submission and Sacrifice in the First Letter of Peter
title_full_unstemmed The Relationship Between Submission and Sacrifice in the First Letter of Peter
title_short The Relationship Between Submission and Sacrifice in the First Letter of Peter
title_sort relationship between submission and sacrifice in the first letter of peter
topic sacrifice
submission
worship
priesthood
offering
service
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/5/655
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