As the first comparative study of Colossians and 1 Peter, the book fills a lacuna by exploring each author's understanding of the new existence and the means to righteous living.

If the epistles end up offering almost identical paraenesis, why do they have such distinctive theological patterns of thought? The conventional starting point in Colossian and 1 Peter studies centers on the recipients' needs. Much has been learned from these investigations and is kept in view. However, the extent to which each epistle's theology reflects an underlying pattern of ideas within each author's...