The opening of a letter serves to establish the relationship between the writer and the recipients and to introduce significant themes that will recur in the letter. Like typical Greco-Roman letters, 1 Peter begins with the name of the author and the people addressed followed by a greeting or blessing. Peter identifies himself as the author and adds the description “apostle of Jesus Christ,” meaning a person sent to do the work of establishing and instructing churches. Peter identifies the recipients broadly using three categories: “chosen,” “exiles,” and residents of the “dispersion.” In Greek, the first word describing the audience is “chosen.” It is only after they are recognized as chosen that they are identified by their experiences of exile and being scattered, dispersed. “Divine election is … an integral part of the author of 1 Peter’s answer to the social ostracism and persecution of his readers.” It is their chosen status that highlights their unique identity, that gives them courage to resist assimilation, and that allows them to modify their behavior in accordance with the instruction of the one who has called them. In 1 Peter 1:3–2:10, a wide variety of images is used (e.g., new birth [1:3]; obedient children, [1:14]; and living stones [2:4]) to remind members of the church that they have been chosen by God. They are chosen according to the prognōsis, the foreknowledge, of God the Father. The experience of the audience is one of social displacement; they are experiencing alienation and scattering. In this context, God’s foreknowledge is not predetermination but rather serves as “a word of comfort … and assures the audience of their place in the plan of God.”