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The pivotal dialog between Selwyn and Beare in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century led to the comment by New Testament scholar Stephen Neill that 1 Peter was “the Storm‐center of New Testament studies” (Elliott, 1976: 343).

Beare advocates that 1 Peter is “a Pseudonymous product of the Pauline Circle,” which is “inferior to the brilliance and … spirit of the genuine Pauline epistles” (Beare, 1970 [1947], cited in Elliott, 1990: xvii). In contrast, Selwyn argues vehemently that it is an encyclical letter to Christians in the five provinces of Asia Minor: “a microcosm of Christian faith, duty and the model of a pastoral charge” (Selwyn, 1958: 1).

This “storm” died out fairly quickly. However, it led to Elliott’s now famous statement that 1 Peter is “an exegetical Step‐child” which needs “rehabilitation” (Elliott, 1976: 243). His article of this title elaborates on this, commenting further on the state of 1 Peter as caught in “a disconcerting pattern of benign neglect” (ibid.: 343–354).

Elliott engaged in another dialog on 1 Peter in the 1980s – with Balch on the role and function of the household codes and the implications for understanding the letter’s general strategy. Balch stresses the use of the codes by 1 Peter (Balch, 1981a: 81–116), while Elliott argues that 1 Peter was written by a Petrine group in Rome in Peter’s name after his death by Nero. Elliott at this time understands the purpose of the epistle to be the solidarity of believers in Rome with the suffering believers in Asia Minor and through the world. He holds that the central message is that God alone is father and judge and is the only one to whom allegiance and reverence is due (1 Pet. 2:17) (Elliott, 1981: 208–220).

Meanwhile, separately in three different geographical locations, Elliott, Brox, and Goppelt were working on a new perspective – a methodology from the social sciences. Up to this point, much social‐scientific work had been done on the Pauline epistles but little if anything on the Catholic epistles, 1 Peter among them, leading to Elliott’s reference to the “benign neglect” of the small text (Elliott, 1990: xviii). Elliott states their position on 1 Peter as “an original and powerful statement on the social role of the Christian minority movement in a hostile non‐Christian society” (Elliott, 1990: xviii). All three of these scholars agreed that rather than a “distant echo of Pauline theologomena and an inferior product of a Pauline school”, in fact, 1 Peter is “an independent and creative piece of encouragement to a sectarian Christian movement threatened by local social pressure to go along in order to get along” (ibid.). Further, they show that 1 Peter is the most systematic and comprehensive treatment of the issue of Christian alien residence and responsibility within the structures of non‐Christianity (Goppelt, 1993 [1978]: 41; Elliott, 1990: xviii; see also Brox, 1993).

After this time, scholars have continued to explore still other dimensions of social‐scientific methodology such as rhetoric (Martin, 2007); postcolonialism (Horrell, 2007); and narrative (Boring, 2007). All of these plus a few others can be found in Reading First Peter with New Eyes (Webb and Bauman‐Martin, 2007). Although 1 Peter is no longer neglected, there is still little agreement on the origin, context, and purpose. This, however, adds to its richness for understanding, leaving us with an amazing task to undertake. So, in light of all of these new developments, this present study will explore the reception history especially in ancient times to the present, leaving you, our reader, to explore current trends and readings on your own. Perhaps even new additional perspectives are waiting to be discovered.