they be raised up again by God through the power of his Spirit and be renewed to repentance” (Arminius, ‘Works of Arminius,” vol. 1 online: on 1 Peter 1:5: ccel.org). This expanded into later discussions with Luther, Calvin, and others about whether salvation can be lost.
Other Interpretations
Some religious groups have interpreted this to mean that salvation cannot be lost. The Mennonite Articles of Faith (1766/1895/1902) declare:
It is therefore contrary to the renewed nature of the believers and in antagonism with it, to sin. Moreover, they are carefully watched over and kept. (Pelikan III, V: 75)
Suffering: Purification or Punishment?
The interest in “hope” and “being kept” during trials quickly lead to the broader concern about the nature of suffering itself: is Peter addressing persecution in particular or is he also treating the sufferings everyone experiences through life? Moreover, does God himself send this grief and sorrow or is it from another source entirely? Many thinkers have addressed this issue through the ages and currently continue to struggle with finding a satisfactory solution.
Ancient Receptions
A number of early writers understand Peter’s idea about the meaning and purpose of suffering in terms of purification for believers and punishment for sinners. For example, John Chrysostom (c. 349–407) distinguishes between the refinement of believers and the punishment of sinners: “The righteous suffer so that they may be crowned [with glory], but sinners suffer in order to bring their sins to full judgment” (Catena, CEC 44: my tr.).
Other early thinkers understand suffering as “grief,” which ultimately brings about a good result. Origen says, “Read ‘grieve’ in this verse in the sense of ‘suffer’ as in ‘in grief you shall bring forth children’ [Gen 3:16]” (Exhortation to Martyrdom, 39 CWS: 70). Similarly, Didymus the Blind comments that there are two kinds of grief: “one leads to death and another leads to repentance” (2 Cor. 7:10) (Comm. on 1 Peter, PG 39: 17: my tr.).
Hilary of Arles conceives of suffering in a different way; that is, in relation to undergoing temptation: “The glory of the redeemed will never fade after they have been raised from the dead, for it will have withstood the fire of temptation” (Intro. Comm. on 1 Peter, PLSupp 3: 85: ACC). Bede concurs (Comm., 1985: 78).
Reformation
By the time of the Reformation, Luther comments, “This grief shall last but a little while; afterward ye shall be exceeding glad, for this salvation is already prepared for you” (Comm. on Peter and Jude, 1990: 42). He also emphasizes the role of suffering as necessary for the purification process:
The fire does not take away from the gold, but it makes it pure and bright, so that all dross is removed. So God has imposed the cross upon all Christians, that they might thereby be purified. (Comm.: ccel.org)
Calvin elaborates on the metaphor of gold as a refining process involving two phases:
Gold is, indeed, tried twice over by fire; first when it is separated from its dross, and then, when a judgment is to be formed of its purity. Both of these processes are suitably applied to faith … so that it becomes pure and clean before God. (Calvin, Comm., 1963: 235)
Other Interpretations
John Wesley, on the other hand, understands Peter’s notion of suffering as general distress experienced in daily life. In a sermon he gave on several occasions, “Heaviness Through Manifold Temptations” (Sermon 47, WesleyCenterOnline: ccel.org), he makes an important distinction between this kind of suffering (lupethentes, literally “distress” or “grief”) and “darkness” which is a result of sin. He interprets this grief as depression or “heaviness” of spirit which is experienced by believers but is not the same as the “darkness” of the sinful state. He points out here that Peter’s readers are obviously believers, not sinners, being “kept” through these trials (v.7), while they possess a “living faith” (v.9), have multiplied peace and grace (v.3), and are rejoicing in the glory of God (v.8). It is clear that believers are undergoing distress. In fact, Wesley feels that, except in some unusual cases, it is actually necessary for believers to endure trials for faith to increase and to confirm the hope of glory.
Later, existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) has a unique perspective. In relation to being “tried in the oven” (v.7), he explains that suffering results in strength; at first, we hold on to the hope that it may be avoided, but ultimately the real strength only comes when we realize that no help is coming:
there is nothing cruel about this seriousness, which deals gently with a man and never tempts him beyond his capacity to bear. He has seen what he is going to suffer, he has seen what this love will cost him, “But maybe,” says he, “better times will come, help will yet come, and all may yet be well.” So he does not let go the picture, but advances tranquilly into the suffering whereto he is led. For governance is love; in its indulgence towards this ardent youth it has not the heart to let him understand at once that here there awaits him a disappointment, that he is reckoning without his host. But this he could not yet endure to understand, and therefore (oh, infinite solicitude of love!) he is not able to understand it. He holds out, and by thus holding out he is strengthened, as one is strengthened by suffering.” (Training, 1978: 189)
Rejoice (vv.6–8)
Verses 6–8 comprise a small unit around the word “rejoice.” In the LXX, this is a technical term for the eschatological rejoicing of the redeemed in worship (cf. Goppelt, 1993: 90). In the New Testament, this word is used primarily to express the work of the Spirit, particularly at the end of time (see Luke 10:21; Acts 2:46, 16:34; Jude 24; Rev. 19:7). Peter himself uses the term in this way in 4:13. This is the joy associated with coming through the suffering of the purification process. Some of the early writers focus on this rather than on the suffering needed to produce it. For example, Hilary of Arles comments, “Not even a thousand ironclad tongues can sound out the sweetness of the heavenly blessings” (Intro. Comm. on 1 Peter, PLSupp 3: 85: ACC). Bede remarks:
To ask joy of this sort is not to plead only with your words for entry into the heavenly fatherland but also to strive with labor to receive it. (Homilies on the Gospels 2:12, HOG 2:111)
Luther conveys some of the nature of the joy promised:
An unspeakably glorious joy shall that be, – and there is scarcely so clear a passage on the subject of the future joy as the one in this place, – and still he finds himself unable to express it. (Luther, Comm.: ccel.org)
After the time of the Reformation, writers and pastors were also interested in the relation of suffering and joy. For example, Matthew Poole (1624–1679) reads 1 Peter 1:6–8 in terms of grief and joy, but explains that a person can experience both “heaviness” or grief at the same time as joy by realizing that the grief is in the present while rejoicing is coming in the future: “they might grieve as men but rejoice as saints … suffering might affect them but the faith of better things coming will relieve them” (1669: 900).
Thomas
