Johnson is an adjunct instructor in religious education at Brigham Young University (Utah). For those familiar with the Mountain Meadows Massacre, this work presents an interesting look into the social and religious forces at work in the aftermath of the massacre. Johnson organizes the book through four tropes she identifies in the general historical narrative of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Chapter One focuses on supposed Mormon “savagery” and Mormonism’s apparent relation to American indigenous peoples. Chapter Two focuses on the racial labeling of non-Mormons onto Mormons as well as that identity’s building of the rhetorical limits of the American empire. Chapter Three addresses the gendering of Mormon men and the perceived failures of Mormon men that led to the massacre. Chapters Four and Five detail theocracy and religion in the trial and execution of John D. Lee, the only person prosecuted for the massacre, and the perceived culpability of Brigham Young in the massacre. The introduction and epilogue nicely bookend the argumentative narrative that Johnson constructs. One aspect of her work that was jarring was her consistent use of the term “Indian” to refer to indigenous people in America. When contrasting against her careful use of the terms “Mormon” and “Latter-day Saint” as detailed in her introduction, some may find it difficult to disregard her usage of the term “Indian” fairly consistently throughout the work without discussion of it. If one is able to see past this issue, then one will find a thought-provoking book about the social history of the Mountain Meadows Massacre and early Mormon history.

Ubiquitous in Pauline studies (if not also New Testament studies generally and systematic theology) is the idea that time is divided into two ages, which, as a result of Christ’s death and resurrection, now overlap. This overlap of the ages (now-not yet) has served to explain the tensions in Pauline thought regarding salvation, glory, and the ongoing experiences of death and Sin. In this volume, Jervis offers an alternative perspective on time. She situates her study in the context of salvation-historical approaches and the apocalyptic perspective (Chapters One and Two). Both perspectives share the two-age scheme, despite their very different interpretations of Paul on other matters. Jervis argues that the standard approach to time, based on the two-age scheme, has failed to appreciate fully the significance of Paul’s union-with-Christ concept. As a result of union with Christ, believers are no longer associated with “death-time” but “life-time.” These are not merely two ages, Jervis stresses, but two different types of time as defined by their end goals. She explores Christ’s experience of time as past, present, and future in order to show that what humans typically explain as future (e.g., resurrection or second coming) is actually Christ’s present. Believers through union with Christ are drawn into the exalted Christ’s present experience of life. The strength of the two-age scheme lies in its ability to explain the ongoing realities of suffering, Sin, and death. Jervis aims to reorient the understanding of these themes by arguing that suffering is an expression of union with Christ, death has no remaining power over believers, and Sin (understood as a cosmic power) has been defeated by God in Christ, such that believers are freed from Sin’s reign. Jervis’ book tackles a complex topic (namely, time) and presents a serious challenge to the reigning perspective. At the same time, Jervis’ alternative temporal scheme has some features that I, at least, do not find fully persuasive (e.g., the claims about Christ’s present and future). Nevertheless, there are indeed many features of this argument that should be carefully considered, and one may hope that future studies of Pauline eschatology will not merely adopt the two-ages scheme without some consideration of Jervis’ examination. While this study will particularly interest scholars, students may also benefit from it. It could probably be used as a secondary source in a course on Pauline theology.