In Persecution in 1 Peter, Travis B. Williams offers a comprehensive and detailed socio-historical investigation into the nature of suffering in 1 Peter. While interpreters commonly portray the conflict situation addressed by the epistle as "unofficial" persecution consisting of discrimination and verbal abuse, Williams demonstrates the inadequacy of this modern consensus by situating the letter against the backdrop of conflict management in first-century CE Asia Minor. Drawing on a wide range of historical evidence and on modern social-psychological perspectives, this work...

Drawing on recent insights from postcolonial theory and social psychology, Travis B. Williams seeks to diagnose the social strategy of good works in 1 Peter by examining how the persistent admonition to "do good" is intended to be an appropriate response to social conflict. Challenging the modern consensus, which interprets the epistle's good works language as an attempt to accommodate Greco-Roman society and thereby to lessen social hostility, the author demonstrates that the exhortation to "do good" envisages a pattern of conduct which stands opposed to popular values. The Petrine author...

Media studies is an emerging discipline that is quickly making an impact within the wider field of biblical scholarship. This volume is designed to evaluate the status quaestionis of the Dead Sea Scrolls as products of an ancient media culture, with leading scholars in the Dead Sea Scrolls and related disciplines reviewing how scholarship has addressed issues of ancient media in the past, assessing the use of media criticism in current research, and outlining potential directions for future discussions.