On Suffering and Baptism in I PeterAuthor(s): David HillSource: Novum Testamentum, Vol. 18, Fasc. 3 (Jul., 1976), pp. 181-189Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1560561 .

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Novum Testamentum, Vol. XVIII, fasc. 3

ON SUFFERING AND BAPTISM IN I PETER

BY

DAVID HILL Sheffield

That I Peter is directed to Christian communities undergoing suffering cannot reasonably be doubted: in every chapter there is reference at some point to actual or potential suffering on the part of the Asian Christians addressed (i 6 f., ii 19 ff., iii 13 ff., iv 12 ff. and v 9). "Running through the whole letter", observes J. N. D. KELLY, 1), "is the assumption that the recipients are being, or at any moment are liable to be, subjected to trials and persecutions". The frequency of the Greek words associated with suffering (rcaaXo, iOu~pa

and eEpcoa6t)

confirms the point. That I Peter reflects baptismal thought and practice is a view widely held, mainly because of the presence of baptismal themes (e.g. rebirth, i 3, 23 and ii 2) in the letter. But baptismal themes are equally if not more prominent in other parts of the New Testament (e.g. Rom. vi, Col. ii and Heb. vi), which suggests that their presence in I Peter requires no more special explanation than that the 'pattern' of baptism influenced the way in which the Gospel and its implications were presented by early Christian authors in general 2). It is indeed striking that in the case of I Peter the word 'baptism' appears only once in the entire letter (iii 21) whereas the action and/or the meaning of the rite is widely assumed to be the funda- mental background for the understanding of the whole. As is well- known, some scholars have argued that the letter represents, substantially, a reworking of a baptismal address 3); and others

1) J. N. D. KELLY, A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and of Jude, (London, 1969), p. 5.

2) Cf. C. F. D. MOULE, "The Nature and Purpose of I Peter", N.T.S. III (1956-57), p. 4.

3) R. PERDELWITZ, Die Mysterienreligion und das Problem des I Petrus- briefes, (Giessen, 1911); W. BORNEMANN, "Der erste Petrusbrief - eine Taufrede des Silvanus ?", Z.N.T.W. XIX (1919), pp. 143-65; B. H. STREETER, The Primitive Church, (London, 1929), pp. 129 ff.; H. WINDISCH, Die Katho- lischen Briefe (Handbuch zum neuen Testament), 2nd ed. (Tiibingen 1930); F. W. BEARE, The First Epistle of Peter, Ist. 2nd and 3rd eds. (Oxford, 1947, 1958, 1970); C. E. B. CRANFIELD, I and II Peter and Jude, (London, 196o).

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182 DAVID HILL

that it is the written form of an actual baptismal liturgy 4). Now, if I Peter is so directly concerned with baptism, we should expect to be able to connect the baptismal theme and the theme of suffering in such a way as to give unity and cogency to the author's message of encouragement.

It is possible that the theological discussions of baptism in Rom. vi and Col. ii imply suffering when they describe the believer's crucifixion, death and burial in baptismal union with Christ. How- ever, these terms do not necessarily connote actual, physical suffer- ing brought about by persecution, and that is what the author of I Peter obviously has in mind: he is concerned with the results of an intensification of the virtually continuous harrying of Christians by local opponents which could lead to suspicion, denial of civil rights, arrest, imprisonment and even death. Of the attempts to relate baptism and suffering in I Peter none is more fascinating than that made by F. L. CROSS 6). His theory is an extension of PREISKER'S view: not only is I Peter a baptismal liturgy; it is, in substance, the celebrant's part in the Baptismal Eucharist of the Paschal Vigil. The connection with the Paschal season is made on the basis of the observed frequency in the letter of the words ~icaXco and

na06ta and the fact that Melito of Sardis in his Treatise on the Pasch makes effective use of the paronomasia, nic&ax (really an Aramaic form of pesach = Passion) and the verb n&aXslv. The allusions to suffering are therefore due to the Paschal setting of I Peter and refer, not to the results of persecution, but to the sacramental in- corporation of the believer into Christ, wherein he may be said to have suffered with Christ and to have begun a new life in Christ, "the life of suffering in mystical union with Christ" 6). On this approach, there is very close agreement between the teaching of Rom. vi and I Peter, although the former does not explicitly employ the terminology of suffering. We are not here concerned with the general theory that I Peter (or the major part of it) is a baptismal homily or liturgy, nor with the at most very tenuous connection between the letter and the Passover season: our concern is to discover whether the allusions to suffering in the letter can be more

4) H. PREISKER, in additions to the 3rd edition of WINDISCH'S commentary, (Tiibingen, I95g), and F. L. CROss, I Peter, A Paschal Liturgy, (London, 1954).

6) F. L. CROSS, op. cit. 6) CROSS, op. cit., p. 22.

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ON SUFFERING AND BAPTISM IN I PETER 183

convincingly accounted for than by the Paschal paronomasia. CROSS pays insufficient attention to the plain fact that it is real, physical suffering to which the Christians addressed were exposed, and not mystical suffering. In the course of an argument generally critical of CRoss' theory, C. F. D. MOULE claims that the baptismal context and theme are adequate, without recourse to the special Pasch motif, to explain iv Ib ('he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin') and adds, "Christians knew that they must suffer, if not literal death, at any rate that death and burial with Christ which are baptism." 7) Again one must ask, Does suffering death and burial with Christ amount to or entail the actual suffering of violence and hostility? Later, in the same essay, MOULE affirms that there is an obvious congruity between the theme of baptism and that of suffering, and he goes on to explain:

Suffering is connected with baptism (through Christ's baptism which meant the cross), and baptism is an epitome of the Christian doctrine of suffering. There is no context where Christian thought more naturally takes baptismal shape than the context of persecution 8).

When he says that "suffering is connected with baptism through Christ's baptism which meant the cross" MOULE may have in mind the words of Luke xii 50, 'I have a baptism to be baptised with ... (cf. Mark x 38, 'Are you able to be baptised with the baptism wherewith I am being baptised?'). But there, if the logion is original, Jesus is likening his death (or, according to Mark, his entire ministry, perhaps) to a baptism, in the sense of a divinely-appointed tribula- tion or judgment: he is not likening his baptism to a death, and therefore we cannot explain the significance of Jesus' baptism from this text. It may be, however, that MOULE is suggesting that the actual baptism of Jesus by John itself implied, or was fulfilled in, his suffering and death. For this to be valid we must assume that the words of the divine voice at Jesus' baptism (whether they represent a Markan theological construct or an intimation of Jesus' own interpretation of his person and mission) contain a reference to the Suffering Servant motif. This view is not as widely accepted as once it was and, in any case, even if there is an allusion to Isa. xlii I in the baptismal quotation it is used primarily to identify Jesus as the one endowed with the divine Spirit. We are too ready to imagine that every allusion to the Servant of God

7) C. F. D. MOULE, op. cit., p. 5. 8) C. F. D. MOULE, op. cit., p. II.

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184 DAVID HILL

theme in the Gospels carries within it a reference to the Servant's suffering. MOULE'S succint, but not very clear, explanation of how suffering and baptism are connected (viz. "through Christ's baptism which meant the cross") is not sufficient to account for the close association of the references to physical suffering and the supposedly strong baptismal motif in I Peter. Nor can we link them by means of the metaphorical use of 'baptism' to mean martyrdom: evidence for this usage is lacking before the time of Irenaeus 9).

A means of linking suffering and the baptismal theme would be available if it could be shown that reference to probable or necessary suffering and to the appropriate Christian attitude was included in pre-baptismal instruction. This does not seem to have been the case. Neither DODD 10) nor HUNTER 11) includes among the elements of the relatively fixed baptismal catechesis instruction specifically relating to affliction and rejoicing in suffering: nor do the lists of catechetical material set out by DAVIES 12), in dependence on CARRINGTON 13), contain instruction on the Christian understanding of and response to suffering, though they do include exhortations to watchfulness and steadfastness. SELWYN 14) does not assign the contents of his Persecution-torah (in which he includes injunctions to wakefulness and steadfastness) to the catechetical pattern associated with preparation for baptism, but thinks the form may reflect the teaching activity of prophets in the church.

If neither the hypothesis of I Peter's liturgical relatedness, nor an appeal to a theological understanding of the implications of Christ's baptism, nor a reference to the contents of the baptismal catechesis, provides a satisfactory means of linking the theme of suffering to that of baptism, is there another solution? There is: but it has important consequences for widely-cherished opinion. The link between baptism and suffering (such as would befall Christians in a hostile environment) may be accounted for simply and adequa- tely by assuming that, since baptism was the occasion and the sign

9) A. OEPKE, T.D.N.T. I, p. 536 n. 44. 10) C. H. DODD, Gospel and Law, (Cambridge, 1951) pp. 20 ff. 11) A. M. HUNTER, Paul and his Predecessors, (London, 1961) 2nd ed.,

pp. 52 ff. and I28-31. 12) W. D. DAVIES, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism, (London, 1955) 2nd. ed.,

pp. 122-28. 13) P. CARRINGTON, The Primitive Christian Catechism, (Cambridge, 1940). 14) E. G. SELWYN, The First Epistle of St. Peter, (London, I947), 2nd ed.,

pp. 440 f. The contents of the Persecution-torah are set out on pp. 442-49.

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ON SUFFERING AND BAPTISM IN I PETER I85

of voluntary self-commitment to the Christian way, those who offered themselves for the rite were aware, through their knowledge of what Christians endured, that this way on which they were embarking would inevitably involve suffering. Acceptance of the consequences of becoming and being known as a Christian was implied in the acceptance of baptism. In short, a Christian's suffering and his baptism are linked because, in accepting baptism, he is affirming willingness to share in the known experience of baptised persons who were commonly, if not constantly, treated with suspicion and hostility. The consequences of this view (and its simplicity is its strength) are to make the baptismal theme quite subsidiary, almost incidental, to the main purpose and meaning of I Peter 15). The chief concern of the letter is with the conduct of Christians undergoing affliction and suffering: and they suffer because that is what happens to Christians. The baptismal tone of the letter is due, not to its being substantially a baptismal homily 16), or the liturgy of a just-completed rite 17), but to the fact that a Christian's baptism is the point of transition from an ancient, inherited system of religious practice (i 18) to a new faith and a consequent way of life that is marked by a totally new moral attitude and bearing: 18s) and, being such a critical moment, the meaning of baptism is never far from the surface when Christians are being exhorted to maintain the integrity of their committment to Christ's way.

That that commitment would involve suffering, even persecu- tion, seems to have formed part of the paraenetic tradition of the primitive Church. It may have been based on the tradition of verba Christi (cf. Matt. x 28 and Luke xii 4): it was an element in

16) Cf. E. L6HSE, ,,Pariinese und Kerygma im I Petrusbrief", Z.N.T.W. XLV (1954), pP. 68-89.

16) The references to 'new birth' (i 3, 23 and ii 2) are not evidence that a baptismal rite is in view: it is the word of God, the enduring Gospel, which is the effective agent of regeneration, as i 23 states: and cf. Jas. i I8.

17) The repeated emphasis on 'now' (i 12, ii o10, 25 and iii 21) does not indicate the new situation that obtains immediately after baptism, but 'the new situation that obtains when Gentiles, with Jews, are being together formed into Israel and the tide of the universal Gospel is felt to be in full flood' (E. G. SELWYN, "Eschatology in I Peter", The Background of the New Testament and its Eschatology, eds. W. D. DAVIES and D. DAUBE, (Cambridge, I956) p. 394 f.

1x) Cf. W. C. VAN UNNIK, "The Critique of Paganism in I Peter I:I8", Neotestamentica et Semitica, eds. E. E. ELLIs and M. WILcox, (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 129 and p. 141.

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I86 DAVID HILL

the apostolic teaching from the earliest days (cf. Acts xiv 22: 8s6 7o?~ojv

OM4i&v 07o

' ]Z S eaXeZv L t-Cv 160 LXV, ~VoiT 0 oiu): and, in

addition to the many references in I Peter itself, I Thess. iii 2 f. affirms that suffering is inevitable for Christians (oMrr7e 6-n de 0o5ro x~0aleo, and cf. I Thess. ii 14 and Heb. x 32 f.) It is this

kind of evidence that suggests to SELWYN that a pattern of teaching on the inevitability of unmerited hostility and persecution was commonly available from an early date 19). He does not think, how- ever, that it was part of the instruction given to candidates for bap- tism. If he is right, then it does not appear that the primitive Christian communities explicitly connected baptism and the ex- pectation of physical suffering. This has been overlooked by those who stress the baptismal character of I Peter.

All theories about the pervasiveness of the baptismal theme in I Peter are embarassed by the fact that the word 'baptism' occurs only once in the letter, and that in a statement which is virtually parenthetical (iii 21). The brief characterisation of baptism there provided is consistent with the interpretation given above, that baptism is the occasion and sign of transition from an old way of life to another that is marked by a new ethic.

The words o05 aGxpx4 &rbtOams 0 x67ou 5XX& auvesM8JaesG &y x!y6 Sxo7rePgr de Oe6v have a chiastic arrangement: admittedly it is not a literary masterpiece, but the thought is clearly and inten- tionally balanced. The contrast is therefore between &b6soeas and

kx1gptz 20), between the putting off or abandonment of some- thing and committment to something. What is put off is a0xpxcq

p6u:os and, assuming (as surely we must) that both words are sub- stantives, that means "the filth of the flesh". If this is interpreted in a purely physical sense, then the writer is simply denying that bap- tism is a washing of the body, and that seems to be a rather inconse- quential point to be making. The difficulty here has increased the attractiveness of the suggestion tentatively made by SELWYN 21) and taken up by W. J. DALTON and others 22) that the writer has circumcision in mind, as being the removal of the uncleanness of the flesh. But, in the context, the writer is trying to explain to

19) E. G. SELWYN, The First Epistle of St. Peter, pp. 441, 450. 20) Contra H. GREEVEN, T.D.N.T. II, p. 688: 'the true distinction lies in

ampx6b and auvaetlSasq'. 21) E. G. SELWYN, op. cit., p. 205. 22) W. J. DALTON, Christ's Proclamation to the Spirits (Analecta Biblica 23),

(Rome, 1965) pp. 215-24; J. N. D. KELLY, op. cit., pp. 161 f.

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ON SUFFERING AND BAPTISM IN I PETER 187

his readers-almost universally assumed to be Gentiles-his referen- ce to Noah: would it not then be obscurum per obscurius to introduce an oblique reference to the Jewish rite? At several points in the New Testament what is "put off" (&rX60o'O and &xoborloaL) is moral in content: e.g. Rom. xiii 12 'the works of darkness', Eph. iv 22, 25 'the old man', Col. iii 8, I Pet. ii i and, most interesting, Jas. i 21, x7iOav unxapLav. Now the moral connotation of '6xo4 grows in the second century: may we not have here an early use of the word with that sense? If so, then the first part of the descrip- tion of baptism states that it is not a setting aside or abandonment of the moral weakness which is attached to the flash, but is ouveL3l- a C0 &0y(O9j pjwt z 1 O iS6v; or, and this is a permissible inter- pretation of oi ... &Xx&, not so much a setting aside... as an S 1 23).

Turning to the other and more positive part of the phrase: "Es 0Kov is contrasted, tellingly, with a&p?, and &irx6oas with ixnrP(xar . The lengthy debate on the meaning of this word has yielded the following results:

(i) the etymological sense, 'question', 'inquiry', 'interrogation' (RV), does not provide a plausible interpretation;

(ii) the translation 'prayer' or 'appeal' (for a good conscience) relies too heavily on the few instances of the verb rEn7&r-iv meaning 'to request' and gives a singularly unconvincing view of the nature and function of baptism;

(iii) papyrological evidence shows that pcg'pr~?r was a technical term in making a contract and could specifically denote the 'pledge' or 'undertaking' given by one of the parties in answer to formal questions addressed to him. The word then implies the registering of agreement to conditions or demands, and that is nearer to the significance of the Latin adstipulatio than to stipulatio, which is frequently employed in explication of the Greek term 24).

On the basis of this understanding of the word sperntao C. SPICQ remarks, "Cette stipulation, sous la forme d'un serment d'allUgiance ... correspond A l'homologie baptismale (Rom. x Io,

23) BLASS-DEBRUNNER-FUNK, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament, (Cambridge, 1961), p. 233, para. 448 (i).

24) Cf. TERTULLIAN, de res. carnis, 48: 'anima enim non lavatione sed responsione sancitur'.

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188 DAVID HILL

I Tim. vi 12, Heb. iv 14; x 23" 25). And Cyril of Alexandria explains the entire phrase as rs d" XpL-arv ntareco4 6toXoylt (hom. pasch. 30.3). The pledge or response is thus considered to be a confession of faith, but that interpretation may be too broad. The pledge is an expression of assent to certain conditions (presumably about conduct): it may imply a confession of faith, but the two need not be made in the same words or actions. If we lift our attention from the interpretation of the verse in I Peter and examine patterns of baptism which are earlier the point becomes clear. At Qumran, those joining the community and entering the Covenant submitted to the ritual procedure which included the declaration of duties required and an assent thereto, cf. IQS v 8-io and also IQS i 20, 24 and ii Io, 18-I9. In this connection M. BLACK speaks of "a list of obligations to be laid upon the member of the sect, the adstipula- tiones to which he will subscribe and bind himself by a solemn oath" 26). An earlier parallel may be found in Exod. xix. Verse Io of this chapter, "Sanctify the people . . . and let them wash their garments", has been taken by the Rabbis throughout the ages to be an indication that Israel was received into the Sinaitic covenant through baptism. Now this verse is preceded by what might be called the stipulatio, the statement of contract or covenant, "If ... then you will be my people (xix 3-6) and the assent, or adstipulatio, follows in vs. 7-10, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do". If this pattern illumines I Pet. iii. 21, then the brepwTjta will be interpreted as a response or assent to a covenant obligation, an agreement to maintain righteousness, through obedience, in the future. The auvet8aLat &yaoO is therefore less likely to be an inward disposition ('a clear conscience towards God') than an outward one, concerned with upright behaviour. The word auvetSa&]a can refer to observable aspects of the Christian's life (II Cor. iv 2, Rom. xiii 5 perhaps, and certainly I Pet. iii 16). Consequently, the intention of the verse would be consistent with the stress in I Peter - and elsewhere in the New Testament 27)-on the outward- directedness of Christian living as moral witness to the world. The characterisation of baptism in iii 21 would then be as follows: not

25) C. SPIcg, Les Apitres de Saint Pierre (Sources Bibliques), (Paris, 1966), ad Ioc.

26) M. BLACK, The Scrolls and Christian Origins, (Edinburgh, 1961) p. 94. 27) See W. C. VAN UNNIK, Judentum, Urchristentum, Kirche, ed.

W. ELTESTER, BNZW xxvi (Berlin, 1964) pp. 221-34.

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ON SUFFERING AND BAPTISM IN I PETER I89

so much the abandonment of the moral failures of the pre-Christian life as a firm response to God, a commitment to maintain before the world an upright life of which one need not be ashamed 28).

The recurring emphasis in I Peter on Christian behaviour or conduct, especially in circumstances of affliction and persecution, gives to the letter its undoubtedly paraenetical character; and it is in paraenesis that we may best locate Christian teaching on the inevitability of suffering and the proper reaction thereto. The baptismal tone of the letter-which has led to a variety of attempts to link it directly to the ceremony of baptism-is most satisfactorily accounted for by acknowledging the importance of baptism as the outward mark of the Christian's transition from a pagan way of life to a new way of life marked by obedience, righteousness, suffering and joy. When a writer seeks to strengthen and encourage a body of Christians in distress, it is not surprising that his exhortation should, from time to time, recall or imply that critical moment of their responsible commitment to God to live uprightly and un- ashamedly in his service and way, which is, in the view of the author of I Peter, the real meaning of baptism. To say that the letter, or most of it, is a baptismal homily or liturgy is to treat as explicit, direct and prominent what is only implicit, presupposed and subsidiary. I Peter is paraenetical, not catechetical: and its mains theme is the conduct of Christians in a situation of testing and adversity 29).

28) It is interesting to observe a parallel between this statement of what is required in baptism (commitment, and subsequent integrity of life) and what is involved in admission of proselytes to Judaism (bYeb. 47 a, b): circumcision is the sign and seal of a man's becoming a member of the cove- nant people, and instruction in the law (i.e. on how to live as a Jew) precedes and is preparatory to the baptism. See further D. DAUBE, The New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism, (London, 1956) pp. 0o6-140, but his conclusions about the Jewish catechetical scheme associated with proselyte-baptism being taken over by the early Church are much too firmly stated.

,) I am grateful to Rev. A. W. CARR, formerly Stephenson Fellow in the University of Sheffield, for a number of useful observations incorporated in this paper.

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