1 Peter

Peter's first entry in the Bible is a pretty neat little book. It has some advice on how the community of believers ought to go about getting along. He also appeared to be keen on suffering as a thing that's good for believers, an attitude which I think of as quite unhealthy.

1 Pet 1:10-12 - Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry, inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-things into which angels long to look!
Here's some more work on adding into the Old Testament more than you would read there normally. There's no reason to think any prophet made any such internal inquiry about the timing of any of the predictions they made. Well, there was the one verse in Ezekiel where he stated that his predictions would come true in his very near future, but he got that wrong, too.

1 Pet 1:17 - If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.
My first question here is "what happened to faith?" We've run the gamut from being judged according to faith only (Paul), through James' "faith/works" mixture, into Peter's view of being judged impartially according to you actions.

1 Pet 2:4-6 - Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: "See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
Peter seemed to have no problem with considering himself to be an inanimate object to be broken or used as God saw fit. Imagine how much fun Hitler would have had using him as a lieutenant!

1 Pet 2:9,10 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
It looks like Peter carried over from his Jewish background the attitude that the people in his new group are special, and better than outsiders. From there, it's no big step to thinking you can commit any crime against unbelievers because you have God on your side, and just look at all the people who have taken that step!

1 Pet 2:13,14 - For the Lord's sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.
Hold on here! Is this the same guy who, in Acts, defied the authority of the Jewish council and said that he had to obey God, rather than human authority? This says the opposite of what he said earlier!

1 Pet 2:17-19 - Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly.
Well, most of this is just awful. Imagine advising a person to endure the harsh life of living with a cruel "owner" just so you'll get "credit" with God - to be rewarded only after you die! I rather think that if any of the Bible had been written by a real slave, this advice would be contradicted most vehemently.

1 Pet 3;1,2 - Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives' conduct, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
Just as nothing in the Bible was written by anyone who had ever been a slave, so also there was not a single word written by a woman. Here, Peter tells married women to behave, even when their husbands are less than the paragons of virtue he expects Christian men to be. He thinks that a submissive wife might make a monstrous husband better when the wife stays submissive! How many women have stayed submissive to battering husbands until their painful deaths, hoping to help their killers "see the light"?

1 Pet 5:1-4 - Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it -not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.
Here, it is obvious that Peter considers the "flock" to be just that - a bunch of mindless animals that need to be shown where to go and what to do. That is what shepherds do when they "oversee" a flock. I think it's interesting that Peter is offering these elders the opportunity to "win" a crown of glory, provided they perform their functions well.