Coping with Prejudice ：1 Peter in Social-Psychological Perspective

Publication subTitle ：1 Peter in Social-Psychological Perspective

Author： Paul A. Holloway

Publisher： Mohr Siebeck‎

Publication year： 2009

E-ISBN: 9783161515330

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9783161499616

Subject： B971.2 New Testament

Language： ENG

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Coping with Prejudice

Description

Modern social psychology has devoted a significant share of its resources to the study of human prejudice. Most research to date has focused on those groups that exhibit prejudice. However, a number of recent studies have begun to investigate prejudice from the perspective of its "targets." These studies have shown prejudice to be a powerful stressor that places unique and costly demands on its targets. They have also identified a number of strategies that targets of prejudice use to cope with their predicaments. These findings hold real promise for scholars of early Christianity, for not only were early Christians frequently the targets of religious prejudice - they were to become its perpetrators soon enough! - but much of what they wrote sought either directly or indirectly to address this problem. In this study, Paul A. Holloway applies the findings of social psychology to the early Christian pseudepigraphon known as 1 Peter. He argues that 1 Peter marks one of the earliest attempts by a Christian author to craft a more or less comprehensive response to anti-Christian prejudice and its outcomes. Unlike later Apologists, however, who also wrote in response to anti-Christian prejudice, the author of 1 Peter does not seek to influence directly the thoughts and actions of those hostile to Christianity, but writes instead for his beleaguered coreligionists, consoling them in their suffering and advising them on how to cope with popular prejudice and the persecution it engendered.

Chapter

Abbreviations of Periodicals, Reference Works, Series

List of Plates

Introduction

PART 1: Encountering Prejudice

Chapter One: Locating 1 Peter: 1 Peter As an Early Christian Pseudepigraphal Letter

Literary Integrity

Authorship

Date of Composition

Original Readership

Conclusion

Chapter Two: Social Prejudice and Its Effects

On the Nature of Prejudice

An Emphasis on Group Membership

A Social Attitude with Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Elements

On the Causes of Prejudice

Prejudice from the Target’s Perspective

Conclusion

Chapter Three: Social Prejudice and Persecution: On the Occasion of 1 Peter

Anti-Christian Prejudice in the Early Roman Empire

Official Correspondence on the Treatment of Christians

Early Christian Martyrdom Stories

Early Christian Apologetic Writings

Various Early Non-Christian Literary and Non-Literary Sources

Summary

Evidence of Anti-Christian Prejudice in 1 Peter

Conclusion

PART 2: Coping with Prejudice

Chapter Four: Ancient Theories and Practices of Consolation: Greco-Roman and Early Jewish Traditions

Greco-Roman Consolation

On the Nature of Greco-Roman Consolation

Consolation and Philosophy

Jewish Consolation

Mourning and Consolation in Judaism

Consolation in the Jewish Wisdom Tradition

Consolation in the Jewish Prophetic Tradition

Consolation in Jewish Apocalypticism

Chapter Five: How People Cope with Prejudice: The Findings of Modern Social Psychology

Strategies for Coping with Prejudice

Problem-Focused Coping Strategies

Emotion-Focused Coping Strategies

Moderators for Choosing Coping Strategies

The Costs and Consequences of Coping

Conclusion: Coping and Consolation

Chapter Six: “Born again to a living hope” (1 Pet 1:1–12): Initial Words of Consolation

“To the elect sojourners” (1 Pet 1:1–2)

“Blessed be God” (1 Pet 1:3–12)

“God has caused us to be born again” (1 Pet 1:3–5)

“In this you rejoice” (1 Pet 1:6–9)

“Concerning which salvation the prophets enquired” (1 Pet 1:10–12)

Chapter Seven: “Set your hope fully” (1 Pet 1:13–2:10): Coping with Prejudice through Apocalyptic “Disidentification”

Reorienting One’s Values (1 Pet 1:13)

Restructuring One’s Identity (1 Pet 1:14–2:10)

“As obedient children” (1 Peter 1:14–16)

“If you call on a father who judges impartially” (1 Peter 1:17–21)

“Having purified your souls for genuine sibling love” (1 Pet 1:22–25)

“As newborn infants” (1 Peter 2:1–3)

“As living stones … a spiritual house” (1 Pet 2:4–10)

Conclusion

Chapter Eight: “To silence the ignorance of the foolish” (1 Pet 2:11–3:12): Coping with Prejudice through“ Behavioral Compensation”

“Having good behavior among the gentiles” (1 Pet 2:11–12)

“Submit to every human institution” (1 Pet 2:13–3:7)

Christian Behavior toward the State (1 Pet 2:13–17)

Christian Behavior in the oi\ko~ (1 Pet 2:18–3:7)

“Finally, you should all strive to live in harmony” (1 Pet 3:8–12)

Chapter Nine: “Keeping a good conscience” (1 Pet 3:13–4:11): Coping with Prejudice through “Attributional Ambiguity”

Attributional Ambiguity and Attribution Theory

“But even if you should suffer …” (1 Pet 3:13–14a)

“With meekness and respect” (1 Pet 3:14b-16)

“It is better to suffer as one who does good” (1 Pet 3:17–22)

“… and that is why they slander you” (1 Pet 4:1–6)

“The end of all things is near” (1 Pet 4:7–11)

Chapter Ten: “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal” (1 Pet 4:12–5:14): Concluding Words of Consolation

Cyrenaic Consolation

“Time has come for judgment to begin” (1 Pet 4:12–19)

“Be examples to the flock” (1 Pet 5:1–5)

“Humble yourselves under the hand of God” (1 Pet 5:6–11)

“I have written to exhort and to testify” (1 Pet 5:12–14)

Conclusion

Plates

Bibliography

Reference Works

Ancient Sources: Texts, Editions, and Translations

Secondary Literature Cited

Index

Primary Sources

1. Old Testament/LXX

2. New Testament

3. Ancient Near Eastern Texts

4. Early Jewish Texts: Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, and Josephus

5. Rabbinic Texts

6. Early Christian Texts

7. Greek and Roman Texts

8. Papyri, Inscriptions, and Other Non-Literary Texts

Modern Authors

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