Divine Regeneration and Ethnic Identity in 1 Peter
Mapping Metaphors of Family, Race, and Nation

Examines how 1 Peter draws together metaphors of family, ethnicity, temple, and priesthood to describe Christian identity.

Katie Marcar (Author)

9781108841283, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 June 2022

340 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 0.6 cm, 0.164 kg

'Marcar has produced an excellent addition to the literature on 1 Peter, and her in-depth analysis of intertestamental and first-century background literature concerning the themes in play has great value for anyone researching those topics.' Allyson Presswood Nance, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

In this book, Katie Marcar examines how 1 Peter draws together metaphors of family, ethnicity, temple, and priesthood to describe Christian identity. She examines the precedents for these metaphors in Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity in order to highlight the originality, creativity and theological depth of the text. She then explores how these metaphors are combined and developed in 1 Peter to create complex, narratival metaphors which reframe believers' understanding of themselves, their community, and their world. Integrating insights on ethnicity and race in the ancient and modern world, as well as insights from metaphor studies, Marcar examines why it is important for Christians to think of themselves as one family and ethnic group. Marcar concludes by distilling the metaphors of divine regeneration down to their underlying systematic metaphors.

Introduction: Why this new genos? Christian Ethnic Identity in 1 Peter: Why this new genos?
1. Ethnicity ancient and modern
2. A field guide to metaphors
3. The structure of 1 Peter: A bird's eye view
4. Begotten anew: Divine begetting in 1 Peter
5. Seed metaphors in Jewish and early Christian literature
6. New born babies and spiritual milk in 1 Peter 2:1-3
7. From house to house of God: House and cultic language in 1 Peter 2:4-10
8. From (Re)Generation to Ethnos: Mapping systematic metaphors in 1 Peter
9. Conclusion: The divine regeneration metaphor in 1 Peter
Appendix 1: The language of rebirth in Rabbinic Judaism.

Subject Areas: Theology [HRLB], Biblical commentaries [HRCG1], New Testaments [HRCF2], History of religion [HRAX]