205 THE LAST BEATITUDE. JOY SUFFERING IN 2. For Jesus Christ’s Sake The linking of the three texts comes not only from their lexical forms, but also from the similitude and harmony of thought. Behind the passages lies a climactic discourse about trials and persecutions. 1 Pet 1,6 (eı deon [est¥n] lyphuentev en poikıloiv peirasmoıv) ߥ ßı ¥ ß ¥ ˜ considers a possibility in the future; the conditional clause in 1 Pet 3,14 with the optative (eı kaù pasxoite dia dikaiosynhn, ß ı¥ ù ¥ makarioi) points to a not remote contingency. The conditional with ¥ the indicative in 1 Pet 4,14 (eı oneid¥zesue en onomati Xristoy, ßß ı ß ß¥ ˜ makarioi) presumes instead a real eventuality, a persecution that ¥ fits well with its pastoral situation: “For they were not an experience (that would have called for the present or perfect participle) but an event, and an event pregnant with meaning” 95. There are some guidelines traced in this passage: – trials are the means used by God to prove the believer’s faith; – rejoicing in suffering allows them to share Christ’s tribulations and later his glory; – the faithful always experience, in different ways, the future glory that awaits them 96. The doxologies in 4,11 (ına en pasin dojazhtai o Ueov) and in ™ß˜ ù Ω ¥ 4,16 (dojazetw de ton Ueon) set a framework of glorification in the ¥ ùù ß midst of trials that are interpreted as part and parcel of the new era 97. The controversy between Gundry and Best concerning Jesus’ logia and gospel tradition in 1 Pet is very instructive. Gundry holds the existence of verba Christi in the letter. Some examples would be 1 Pet 1,6; 2,12; 3,14 and 4,13. He concludes that “only Petrine authorship of the Epistle and authenticity of the gospel-passages adequately account for the Petrine pattern of the Verba Christi” 98. Cf. SELWYN, First Peter, 127. 95 Cf. J.L. DE VILLIERS, “Joy in Suffering in I Peter”, Neot 9 (1975) 81. 96 Cf. G.L. BORCHERT, “The Conduct of Christians in the Face of the 97 ‘Fiery Ordeal’ (1Peter 4.12-5.11)”, RevExp 79 (1982) 453. Cf. Ez 38,39; Dan 7,21-7 ; 12,1; Joel 2; Hab 3,3-16; Zeph 1-3; Zach 11-14. C f . R.H. GUNDRY , “‘Verba Christi’ in 1 Pe t e r : the Implications 98 Concerning the Authorship of 1 Peter and the Authenticity of the Gospel Tradition ”, NTS 13 (1966/67) 342-343.350.