This study is an introduction I to some of the problems found in First Peter. The first chapter will be devoted to the presentation of the traditional view of authorship. Does the epistle come to us with the authority of the chief of the apostles? Tradition says yes. The second chapter questions the traditional view. Some scholars have questioned or rejected the verdict of tradition. In the third chapter the problem of the spirits in prison will be considered. Scholars disagree relative to this interpretation. What is meant by preaching to the spirits in prison? Who are these spirits? What does preaching to the dead mean? The fourth chapter deals with the problems of persecution. Was this a definite persecution or only unfriendliness from their communities? Was the persecution in progress or only imminent? In whose reign did this persecution come; Nero, Domitian, or Trajan?