y"). At this period, and for many
years later, the word "presbyter" was vague enough to be applied to the
highest officers of the Church.

The internal evidence afforded by the Epistle is in harmony with St.
Peter's experience. (1) The writer claims to have been "a witness of
the sufferings of Christ" (v. 1), and contrasts himself and his readers
in saying (i. 8), "Whom not having seen ye love." (2) He lays stress
upon the pastoral aspect of our Lord's work (ii. 25; v. 2-4), as though
writing under a sense of the special pastoral charge given to him by
our Lord. (3) His injunction, "all of you gird yourselves with
humility"--literally, "put on humility like a slave's apron"--seems to
be a reminiscence of the action of our Lord that astonished St. Peter
when "He took a towel and girded Himself" at the Last Supper. (4)
There are points of resemblance between the Epistle and the speeches
delivered by St. Peter in Acts. (5) The appeal to Old Testament
predictions of Christ's sufferings (1 Pet. i. 11; Acts iii. 18), the
reference to the stone that was rejected by the builders (1 Pet. ii. 7,
8; Acts iv. 11), the description of the cross as the "tree" (1 Pet. ii.
24; Acts v. 30), are coincidences which suggest a common authorship
while they seem too small to be designed. (6) The graphic and {238}
pictorial style of the Epistle bears resemblance to the style of Mark,
which is based on St. Peter's preaching. We may mention the word "put
to silence" (ii. 15)--literally, "muzzle"--which St. Mark (i. 25; iv.
39) applies to the subduing of an unclean spirit and the stilling of a
rough sea.

Against the authenticity of the Epistle it is sometimes said that it is
improbable that St. Peter, whose mission was to the Jews, would address
Churches in which St. Paul had laboured, and which were largely
composed of Gentiles. But in no case could such action on the part of
St. Peter be thought incredible. And if St. Peter survived St. Paul,
as he very probably did, it would be particularly fitting for him to
write to them after St. Paul's martyrdom. Many critics have been
inclined to pronounce the Epistle spurious on the ground that it seems
to be so strongly influenced by St. Paul's teaching as to represent St.
Paul's own school of thought. We find, as in St. Paul's writings, the
phrase "in Christ" (iii. 16; v. 10, 14), and the second advent of
Christ called by the name "revelation" (i. 7, 13; iv. 13). Moreover,
there are nume