The first Epistle of St. Peter, though brief, contains much doctrine
concerning Faith, Hope, and Charity, with divers instructions to all
persons of what state or condition soever. The Apostle commands
submission to rulers and superiors and exhorts all to the practice of a
virtuous life in imitation, of Christ. This Epistle is written with
such apostolical dignity as to manifest the supreme authority with
which its writer, the Prince of the Apostles, had been vested by his
Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. He wrote it at Rome, which figuratively
he calls Babylon, about fifteen years after our Lord's Ascension.