The epistle was likely written before 64 or 67 AD, and after 62 AD, because of certain reminiscences of Pauline epistles such as Romans, Ephesians, and perhaps Hebrews. Hebrews was written around 62 AD, which is also the approximate date for Luke’s Gospel.

Similarly, when the same grace at Pentecost landed on Peter, everything natural in him would have been seized by sanctifying grace and used. Perhaps Peter’s preaching included divinely inspired comparisons related to his experience as a fisherman. Everything previously in Paul was also utilized by grace. Cardinal Newman, a learned man in Scripture before his conversion, is another example; the Holy Ghost made use of all he had. God undoubtedly chose Cardinal Newman for those specific purposes.

It is a variation upon the idea that how I react depends upon what I am. What I will receive and react to depends upon what I am capable of receiving. What I am capable of receiving depends upon what I am; therefore, how I act depends upon what I am. This is fundamentally the same as agere sequitur esse—action follows being.

These scholastic axioms, like agere sequitur esse, contain volumes. It’s the whole concept of nature, of a thing acting in accordance with its fixed nature. Action necessarily proceeds in accordance with the nature of what is acting. Omne agens agit secundum quod est in actu (Every agent acts according as it is in act), or Omne agens agit per suam formam (Every agent acts through its form). These relate to the primacy of being. The modern world, by contrast, often emphasizes the primacy of doing, as exemplified in Goethe’s Faust, which alters „In the beginning was the Word‟ to „In the beginning was Action.‟

These are minor confirmations pointing to an early date. We are barely 30 years since Our Lord was crucified; the events of Golgotha are still very recent.

1. Shared Characteristics: Both Babylon and Rome were known for idolatry, immorality, and a crushing imperial power. Virgil’s Aeneid captures Rome’s imperial mindset: „Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento… parcere subiectis et debellare superbos‟ (Thou, O Roman, remember to rule the peoples by thy empire… to spare the conquered and to subdue the proud by war). This crushing nature of Rome is also seen in Daniel’s prophecy of the fourth empire of iron.
2. Ancient Interpretation: All ancient writers understood „Babylon‟ in this context to mean Rome. Erasmus in the late 1400s was among the first to disagree. (St. Ignatius of Loyola noted that reading Erasmus made him less fervent, so he stopped.)
3. Peter’s Location: There is no historical record or indication that Peter was ever near the literal Babylon in Mesopotamia.

Everything indicates that „Babylon‟ in 1 Peter 5:13 signifies Rome.

Peter addresses the „elect,‟ those chosen out, who are foreigners scattered throughout these regions. Verse two is clearly Trinitarian, mentioning the Father, the Spirit (Holy Ghost), and the Son (Jesus Christ), even if the explicit Trinitarian terminology isn’t there.

• God the Father’s foreknowledge is the efficient cause of election (virtual salvation).
• The sanctification of the Spirit is the formal cause of election.
• Obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (the Son) is the meritorious cause.

„Grace unto you and peace (shalom) be multiplied.‟

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that cannot fade, reserved in heaven for you, who, by the power of God, are kept by faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

We hope because Christ rose from the dead. God has regenerated us for that which the resurrection makes us hope for: an incorruptible, undefiled, unfading inheritance reserved in heaven—salvation. This language of „inheritance‟ or „heritage‟ of hope is very Pauline.

„You, who, by the power of God, are kept by faith unto salvation.‟ It is God’s doing that Christians are Christian and persevere. Faith is the indispensable foundation, the beginning; salvation is the final purpose, the end. If faith fails, salvation is sure to fail. This salvation is „ready to be revealed in the last time,‟ reflecting the perspective that Christ came towards the end of the world, revealing what lay hidden.

If you make it to salvation in heaven, you will be enormously happy, even if now you must endure difficulties and diverse temptations for a little time. Your faith is being tried. Gold, which is precious, is purified by fierce fire to burn away impurities. Faith, much more precious than gold, should likewise be expected to be tried by fierce persecution. This trial of faith, if found true, will result in praise, glory, and honor at the „appearing of Jesus Christ‟ (particular and general judgment). This glory is first to God, by whose grace it is achieved, and also to those who cooperated with His grace.

You do not see Christ now; you live by faith. Though you see Him not, you love Him and believe in Him. If you persevere and make it to heaven, you will „rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified,‟ receiving the „end of your faith‟—its purpose—which is the salvation of your souls. Peter is zeroing in on the one thing that matters: salvation. It is what Jesus Christ was about, what the Christian life is about, and what trials and temptations are about. And it all depends upon, and is grounded in, faith.

This salvation was foreseen by the Old Testament prophets. They inquired and diligently searched, longing to see what has now been revealed to ordinary Gentile believers. This reminds us of Our Lord’s words that Abraham rejoiced to see His day (John 8:56), and that many prophets and kings desired to see what the disciples were seeing (Luke 10:24). You, the recipients of this epistle, are the realization of these ancient and glorious prophecies.

The „Spirit of Christ‟ in the prophets (referring to the Holy Ghost) suggests the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son (Christ), as taught by the Latin Church’s Filioque. This Spirit foretold the sufferings of Christ (e.g., Psalm 22, Isaiah 53—the suffering servant) and the glories that would follow.

It was revealed to these Old Testament prophets that they were ministering not for themselves but for you—for future believers in the Church of Jesus Christ. They were working for the Church, glimpsing, dreaming of, and longing for the mysteries that have now been fully declared to you by the apostles who preached the Gospel— such as Paul, Barnabas, Mark, Clement. The Old Testament prophets were half-seeing and longing for those mysteries which have now been openly revealed to you. This idea is also clear in Hebrews 1:1-2: „God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days has spoken to us by his Son.‟ The Son is the fullness of revelation.

These things are now declared „the Holy Ghost being sent down from heaven.‟ This is an ablative absolute in Latin, signifying the Holy Ghost having been sent down from heaven to inspire with the fullness of revelation. „On whom the angels desire to look.‟ You are being given the full view of that which even the angels themselves desire to see. Through the Old Testament prophets at half-power, and through the apostles at full-power, you receive the revelation of God’s complete message, given by the Holy Ghost, whom even the angels do not fully see in this way.

Peter is emphasizing the immense significance—the „biggie‟—of your Catholic life, the Catholic Church, the state of grace, and the redemption by Our Lord Jesus Christ.