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1 Peter

About this book
Chapter 4

1 So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, 2 in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires. 3 For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, drinking bouts, and wanton idolatries.⁠ 4 So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you. 5 They will face a reckoning before Jesus Christ who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 Now it was for this very purpose that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, so that though they were judged in the flesh by human standards they may live spiritually by God’s standards.⁠ 7 For the culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer. 8 Above all keep your love for one another fervent because love covers a multitude of sins.⁠ 9 Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. 12 Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you.⁠ 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or as a troublemaker. 16 But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house of God. And if it starts with us, what will be the fate of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners?⁠ 19 So then let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator as they do good.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Peter 4:8 and Gospel of Philip 11:14

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

The Gospel of Philip quotes 1 Peter's claim that love covers sins beside the Samaritan's healing oil. The quotation gives the treatment a further meaning, connecting forgiveness with care for another person's wounds and explaining why love heals.

Passages

1 Peter 4:8

New Testament
7 For the culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer. 8 Above all keep your love for one another fervent because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Peter

Gospel of Philip 11:14

Nag Hammadi
Love [never says it owns] anything, yet [everything] is owned by it. It does not [say “That is mine,”] or, “This is mine,” but instead, [“Everything that is mine] is yours.” Spiritual love is wine as well as fragrance. All who anoint themselves with it [derive good from] it. Those who stand near them also derive good, as do those anointed ones who are standing there. If those who are anointed with ointment leave them and go away, those who are not anointed, who only stand near them, they return to being stuck in their stench. The Samaritan gave nothing to the injured man but wine and oil. It was nothing other than the ointment, and it cured the injuries, because “love covers a multitude of sins.”
180–250 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Philip

References

“... The quotation of 1 Cor 8:1 in §110 leads into a further discussion of love in §111, with a paraphrase of 1 Cor 13:4–8 (which is logical based on the connection of love ...), followed by an allusion to the Samaritan (Luke 10:34), and a quotation of 1 Pet 4:8. While the author appears to string together quotations, paraphrases, and allusions in a unique way, the combination of 1 Cor 13:4–8 and 1 Pet 4:8 is evident in other early Christian literature (1 Clem. 49.5; Clement, Strom. 4.18; Quis div. 38). ...”
Lorne R. Zelyck, John among the Other Gospels: The Reception of the Fourth Gospel in the Extra-Canonical Gospels (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2013), 111.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Peter 4:8 and Gospel of Philip 11:14

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