Peter, 1 and 2

Written by the apostle Peter between AD 62 and 69 to Christians in northern Asia Minor (now Turkey). Peter may have visited some of these Christian groups earlier, but the apostle Paul had not. Peter wrote the first letter to encourage the Christians to have joy and trust God even though they would be facing persecution. Many scholars think Peter was in Rome when he wrote this letter and could see that Emperor Nero’s persecution of the church would probably spread to other areas. Peter wrote his second letter to warn about false teachers. Knowing that he would not live much longer, Peter wanted the readers to beware of those who taught wrong things.