In too many academic contexts, there is an unfortunate divide, even a great ugly ditch, between biblical studies and the discipline that might variously be termed theology, doctrinal or systematic studies. Martin Williams establishes a very helpful bridgehead from which to reconnect these two poles and re-chart their mutual and beneficial connections. A revision of Williams' PhD thesis, albeit minus some 30,000 words, this book is also a substantive contribution to the scholarship exploring 1 Peter. On a number of fronts, therefore, it deserves commendation and wide attention.

As one hopes for in a monograph, each chapter builds well on the previous chapters. An opening chapter outlining Williams's method leads to five exegetical chapters that examine key passages in 1 Peter for the letter's presentation of divine election, gracious divine provision of salvation in Jesus, the application of that salvation via new birth, regeneration and calling, and the consummation of the believer's salvation. The subsequent two chapters engage with 1 Peter's presentation of divine election and salvation's provision in Jesus from a systematic perspective. Readers wanting such engagement with regeneration within 1 Peter are directed to pages425-56 of Williams' thesis; the other sections dropped from it for publication appear to be some longer word studies. Nevertheless, frequent and cogent word studies remain and form one of the strengths of the book. I will be pointing my students to them as exemplars for their own work. I'm not sure many students will have time to read this book in its entirety during their course, but it will reward the dedicated reader with its rich delivery of detail and big picture.

Williams describes his method as one of 'theological-critical exegesis'. By this approach, which fits within wider recent interest in the theological interpretation of Scripture, he seeks to pursue what he judges to be the principle interest of the biblical authors-the goal of hearing God's word and knowing him and glorifying him. Scripture is to be read canonically and in community (here, for Williams, lies the bridge between NT studies and systematic theology), but with the text and not the community as the final arbiter of interpretation. This method is outlined and defended well in Williams's opening chapter.

The substantive chapters require careful reading. In the exegetical chapters, a repeated and clear section-by-section format (structure, context, content, summary) helps the reader, as does consistent translation into English of quotations drawn from the Greek text. The argument is syntactically adroit, but technical terms and their deliberation and payoff for the argument are clearly explained. Exegetical discussion is frequently more in-depth than that found in most critical commentaries, and it engages nimbly with Anglo-American and continental scholarship. Within the footnotes, there is an unusually rich rubbing of shoulders between critical and evangelical scholars. Leon Morris, Jim Packer, John Piper, Don Carson, and others are given their say and, hopefully, will be more widely read and considered by subsequent scholars as a result. Equally, pastor-teachers will be better schooled by this book. (I hope that the publishers make it available soon in paperback to make it more accessible to a wider audience.)

Chapters 7 and 8 apply well the exegetical findings of the earlier chapters. At a number of junctures, I wish this engagement had been reverse-engineered, that when the exegetical point was made earlier, there was some flagging up (via a footnote, perhaps) that this argument relates to a particular systematic point made later in the volume. Chapter 7's discussion of divine election works through Barth, the Arminian-Reformed debate, Klein's rejection of individual election to salvation, and the question of double predestination. Tying these systematic questions to 1 Peter allows a clear path through and, for the unfamiliar with the issues, these controversies are well-outlined. I wonder if those of a systematic persuasion would look for more, but clear foundations are laid for the method Williams models. He draws strong conclusions concerning the theology of 1 Peter, as he does in his eighth chapter, examining the atonement. There the standard metaphors for the atonement are discussed and judged to be evident and complementary in 1 Peter when penal substitution is recognized, forming the necessary and primary lynchpin for the letter's atonement theology.

The final summative concluding pages (pp. 273-79) are vital for a book of such depth and breadth. It positions salvation as an important and rich theme in the letter, playing a vital role in its purpose. The letter's soteriology exhibits and inhabits a salvation-historical framework and is profoundly theological in that it springs from God's elective purposes through Christ's atonement directed towards eschatological salvation. 'Strangers of the Diaspora' are invited to embody its worldview and ethic in their communal and individual lives. Williams has, in the final assessment, written-like Peter-to encourage believers of his day to consider 'how we can communicate Peter's message relevantly, read it meaningfully, and embody it practically in the context of our own believing communities' (p. 279). He wonders whether 1 Peter, being theologically rich, is especially suited to his theological-critical approach, but he calls for his method to be applied to other biblical texts and genres. As such, this book provokes further studies elsewhere within the canon of scripture.

Williams has produced a volume that will figure prominently in my own teaching of 1 Peter. It will help develop syntactical sensibilities and the integration of NT and systematic studies that both the scholar and the well-trained pastor-teacher require. It is to be welcomed for its method, insights, and prospects.

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