Lexham Research Commentary: 1 Peter

As a disclaimer, when evaluating commentaries, I always want to know whether the author fears God enough to faithfully convey the meaning of Scripture, or whether he's going to cave to social pressure and teach what society wants to hear. Jesus sharply rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for their fine way of setting aside the word of God, in favor of their own man-made traditions. So I always ask myself, "What does this commentary say about God's will for the roles of men and women in society?" Usually, the answer to that question will reveal who the author fears most. From the beginning, Dr. Himes admits he has approached the topic of 1 Peter 3:1-6 "with some nervousness", trying "not to alienate those who might have a different interpretation" (Himes, 2017, Author's Preface). Ironically, Himes begins by correctly observing that "While abuse undoubtedly took place [in Bible times], it seems significant that Peter did not believe it necessary to address the possibility of abuse toward the wife in 1 Peter 3:1–6 like he did with the household slave in 1 Peter 2:18–21. (Himes, 2017, 1 Peter 3:1-6). Nevertheless, he then marches forward to insert lengthy warnings against "Spousal Abuse” into the study. Conceding to feminist Betsy Bauman-Martin, Himes cautions, "We must address that this passage has the potential to be used to justify the sin of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse." For this, he blames and excoriates men who are "abusers, who will take any excuse to assert their pseudo-masculinity". He warns, "this is not as rare as we would like to think" (Himes, 2017, 1 Peter 3:1-6). This conveys to me, the impression he agrees with feminists that men who want to lead their families should be lectured, cautioned, and generally viewed with suspicion. Contrary to 1 Timothy 2:11-15 (where Paul states he does "not allow" women to teach or exercise authority over a man, based not on the culture of the day, but on God's order in creation and woman's role in the fall), Himes recommends we read Bible theology taught by feminist women like Bauman-Martin, Caryn Reeder, Catherine Gonzalez, Heibert (who "follows" the teaching of Susan Foh), and Jeannine Brown. Caryn Reeder adopts Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza's femnist "hermeneutics of suspicion" against patriarchal social orders, to "guard against their potential for domination and abuse" (Reed, 2012). While 1 Peter tells wives to submit without fear, these feminists teach that women should treat the concept of male authority as both suspicious and potentially dangerous. While Dr. Himes doesn't necessarily agree with feminist Bauman-Martin on every point (he at least doesn't agree it was Peter's intent to encourage abuse), he further concedes that Bauman-Martin "well states" there is a difference between "the patriarchal (mis)interpretation" of the letter, and how the "original readers" may have interpreted it. I take this to mean he agrees with the feminist position that a "patriarchal" interpretation of the passage is a "(mis)interpretation" (Himes, 2017, 1 Pe 3:1-6). It appears to me that Himes lends credibility to the views of feminists, by devoting much of what he writes on 1 Peter 3:1-6, to their concerns, objections, and skepticism about the passage, and male authority in general. When it comes to the instruction for husbands, however, (1 Peter 3:7), we see no such warnings or "cautions" directed to wives. There isn't the slightest hint of a presumption that wives might ever be known to take legal advantage of their husbands. Instead, it again turns negative against men, presuming they are potential abusers, and that they need to be cautioned. Statistically, it has been stated that 80% (some judges claim it's 90% or higher) of men who commit violent crimes, rape, or otherwise abuse women, come from households where there was no father, and they were raised instead, by the ideology of their single mother. We also know that 80% of divorces are initiated by women. We're told the problem is "toxic masculinity" and "abuse", but it's more likely the absence of masculinity in the household, due to the actions of the wife, that results in men becoming abusers of women. It is not uncommon for women to divorce their husbands, just because they think they can do better. The courts are more likely to give her custody of the children and possession of the house. The man is sent out with nothing, to start over, while he watches his wife having relations with another man, and then turning his children against him. I'm so sick and tired--when the Bible plainly teaches the role God wants for men and women in society, and when this clearly states women are supposed to respect and voluntarily submit to their husbands--of instead hearing endless lectures about how men should be presumed as potential abusers, and shamed as tyrannical despots, if they dare to think God wants them to operate as the head of the family. The Lexham Research Commentary on 1 Peter claims to be "a commentary on the commentaries". It promises to 1) Save you "valuable time by curating all the best literature in one place", 2) "synthesize a broad range of views on a particular passage", 3) distill "dense, jargon-filled research...into easy-to-understand comments", and 4) "place the passage within the narrow context of the biblical book and the broader context of the entire cannon." Dr. Hime's own preface states his objectives as, [1] to point pastors and lay people "to the best resources available in Logos that deal with 1 Peter", [2] "to cover all the major difficult and controversial portions of the epistle, without generally coming "to a conclusion", [3] to provide graduate students with a "next level" layer of research", and [4] to "deal with the practical application of 1 Peter for modern Christian living". While I believe Dr. Himes has somewhat met the goals set by the Lexham Research Commentary, I cannot recommend this volume. It is my understanding that he condones women teaching men, and that he shows more fear of feminist objections to the plain teaching of Scripture, than he does to admitted knowledge Peter himself, never made the presumptions feminists propose. For a set of commentaries that better meets the stated goals of the Lexham Research Commentaries, I heartily recommend the "Exegetical Summaries Series": https://www.logos.com/product/197853/exegetical-summaries-series Cited Works Paul A. Himes, 1 Peter, ed. Douglas Mangum, Elizabeth Vince, and Abigail Salinger, Lexham Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017. The Enemy In The Household: Family Violence in Deuteronomy and Beyond", Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI, 2012

Great idea to summarize the scholarship on an issue.