Reading the Eschatology of 1 Peter with African Help: John S. Mbiti’s Contribution

Abstract

After a brief review of modern African scholarship on 1 Peter, this essay turns to the work of African New Testament scholar John S. Mbiti whose seminal work engaging the issue of New Testament eschatology from an African perspective has had a wide influence on biblical interpretation in Africa.  This essay does not attempt to analyze the entirety of Mbiti’s work on eschatology, but only his thoughts on 1 Peter — especially that Christ is Lord of all (including the unseen world) and that salvation is a corporate, not merely an individual, reality.  Sadly, Mbiti less helpful in his assertion that the resurrection is a non-physical reality.