Although small, 1 Peter addresses at least briefly all of the major doctrines of Christianity. Of course, these ‘kernels’ would be elaborated, debated and developed as the Church moved through the centuries, but an exploration into the reception of this text indicates that these ideas existed at a very early time and that Peter had a serious effect on their later development.

The main theme of 1 Peter introduced in Chapter 1 is the transformed life which for Peter almost always (necessarily?) includes the element of suffering. Peter also weaves throughout, admonitions on the behavior of the transformed life and how to embrace this joyfully by God's grace and hope. In fact in spite of the dark undertones of severe persecution through the epistle, there is a remarkable emphasis on grace, joy, hope and peace. He provides three special metaphors of this life for the individual as well as the community – grass, milk and living stones.