<P> On the other hand, scholars who support the official persecution theory take the exhortation to defend one's faith (3: 15) as a reference to official court proceedings . They believe that these persecutions involved court trials before Roman authorities, and even executions . </P> <P> One common supposition is that 1 Peter was written during the reign of Domitian (AD 81--96). Domitian's aggressive claim to divinity would have been rejected and resisted by Christians . Biblical scholar Paul Achtemeier believes that persecution of Christians by Domitian would have been in character, but points out that there is no evidence of official policy targeted specifically at Christians . If Christians were persecuted, it is likely to have been part of Domitian's larger policy suppressing all opposition to his self - proclaimed divinity . There are other scholars who explicitly dispute the idea of contextualizing 1 Peter within Domitian's reign . Duane Warden believes that Domitian's unpopularity even among Romans renders it highly unlikely that his actions would have great influence in the provinces, especially those under the direct supervision of the senate such as Asia (one of the provinces 1 Peter is addressed to). </P> <P> Also often advanced as a possible context for 1 Peter is the trials and executions of Christians in the Roman province of Bithynia - Pontus under Pliny the Younger . Scholars who support this theory believe that a famous letter from Pliny to Emperor Trajan concerning the delation of Christians reflects the situation faced by the addressees of this epistle . In Pliny's letter, written in AD 112, he asks Trajan if the accused Christians brought before him should be punished based on the name' Christian' alone, or for crimes associated with the name . For biblical scholar John Knox, the use of the word "name" in 4: 14--16 is the "crucial point of contact" with that in Pliny's letter . In addition, many scholars in support of this theory believe that there is content within 1 Peter that directly mirrors the situation as portrayed in Pliny's letter . For instance, they interpret the exhortation to defend one's faith "with gentleness and reverence" in 3: 15--16 as a response to Pliny executing Christians for the obstinate manner in which they professed to be Christians . Generally, this theory is rejected mainly by scholars who read the suffering in 1 Peter to be caused by social, rather than official, discrimination . </P> <P> The author refers to Jesus, after his death, proclaiming to spirits in prison (3: 18--20). This passage, and a few others (such as Matthew 27: 52 and Luke 23: 43), are the basis of the traditional Christian belief in the descent of Christ into hell, or the harrowing of hell . Though interpretations vary, some theologians see this passage as referring to Jesus, after his death, going to a place (neither heaven nor hell in the ultimate sense) where the souls of pre-Christian people waited for the Gospel . The first creeds to mention the harrowing of hell were Arian formularies of Sirmium (359), Nike (360), and Constantinople (360). It spread through the west and later appeared in the Apostles' Creed ". </P>

Who was emperor when 1 peter was written
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