Review of Paul and Time: Life in the Temporality of Christ

Jervis. L. Ann, Paul and Time: Life in the Temporality of Christ. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 190pg, $32.99, Hardcover.

Jervis assumes her audience will have some theological background; this book is written for those who are engaged with Scripture and understand Pauline theology, e.g., seminary students, scholars, pastors, or veterans of Pauline studies. The subject is theological and soteriological, engaging primarily with Romans and other Pauline epistles for biblical reference.

L. Ann Jervis (ThD, Wycliffe College) is an emerita professor of New Testament at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, and a clergywoman in the Anglican Church of Canada. Apart from numerous articles, journal entries, and website contributions, she has authored three books contributing to Pauline biblical studies: At the Heart of The Gospel (2007), The Purpose of Romans (1991), and a commentary on Galatians.

Paul and Time: Life in the Temporality of Christ explores the idea of time in Paul’s epistles. Time in Pauline literature, the author argues, takes on a unique meaning that transcends our fundamental understanding of “time.” God, who exists outside of time, weaves his perfect sovereign will, putting into place a plan of salvation to redeem man. Jervis presents an insightful peek beyond the veil of time. She describes God’s polite invasion of human history with purpose (p. 16–17). The whole of history lead to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, i.e., “salvation history.”

Jervis introduces the reader to commonly considered forms of time and eternity. Theological and philosophical theories of time are explored through the writings of contemporary Pauline theologians, with an equal emphasis on time within Christology studies. Where time is not explicitly expressed, inferences are drawn from keywords within the Pauline text and studied, and phrases like new creation, the kingdom of God, and eternal life reference Paul’s understanding of time (pp. 49–60). Chapters one and two present the audience with precedent research of the current Pauline scholarship. While the subsequent chapters build on Paul’s understanding of salvation and time.

Jervis demonstrates that Paul is using time to illustrate a state of spiritual condition in the believer’s life. The phrase “this present age”—represents those living in the present evil age, while “the new age”—refers to believers who have become a new creation through an initiation conversion experience. The overlapping reference of what we were versus what we are now through God’s action in his Son is a profound evangelistic observation. Jervis identifies change as a process of time; all change occurs within time (p. 62–64). Through his Son, God uses time to bring about change to those who believe. Soteriologically, the present age (evil) and the new age (salvation) are, in contrast, one past and the other present, but both are true. As a personal observation and not a criticism, this theme is so crucial to the everyday Christian that it is unfortunate that her descriptions are bogged down by academic jargon.

For Jervis, believers presently partake in what God accomplished through his Son in the past. The works of Jesus Christ are not stamped in the past but instead live on, and his words, death, and resurrection are timeless. The believer has present access to the works of Christ; the declaration “it is done” reverberates through time. It is not that Jesus Christ, or his works are traveling through time or that believers are transported to the past events of the life of Jesus Christ. Instead, Christ’s past is made present and can be known in the human present. The believer is united with Christ in his death, that he may rise to newness of life (Rom 6:2–6), sharing the benefits of Christ’s work, without having to partake of the literal death of Christ Jesus. All facets of soteriology are accessible to those who have believed and will believe, even those who have yet to be born and may believe.

Christ’s past is present in human past – Jervis indicates that Paul believed that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ reached back to the very beginning of creation while simultaneously reaching into the end of days (Heb 10:18; Rom 5:18). One result of this timelessness is that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ were effective for the generations that lived before its occurrence. Jervis observes the sacrifice of Christ transcends the limits of human time and gather unto itself all of creation for redemption.

For Jervis, believers presently partake in what God accomplished through his Son in the past. The works of Jesus Christ are not stamped in the past but instead live on, and his words, death, and resurrection are timeless.

There is a repetitive nature to these subjects but there is a logical crescendo. The theme is introduced and then revisited with supporting arguments. The book helped me grasp and understand the themes of time, and soteriology. At first, I was opposed to the idea of the temporality of Christ with God, but the crux seems to be our life in the temporality of Christ. We are removed from the words, works, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ by some two thousand years, but Jervis challenges that idea. Christians today are removed historically from the sacrifice of Christ Jesus by time and space divides them from the sacrifice of the crucifixion and the miracle of resurrection. The act itself is timeless, but believers today have access to the benefits of the redemptive work of Christ in real time. Christians are blessed by grace through faith in the now, and in this Christ’s work is timeless.

Jervis assumes her audience will have some theological background; this book is written for those who are engaged with Scripture and understand Pauline theology, e.g., seminary students, scholars, pastors, or veterans of Pauline studies. The subject is theological and soteriological, engaging primarily with Romans and other Pauline epistles for biblical reference. Theological students should expect this read to be both theologically and philosophically complex. A certain amount of resistance to some of the philosophical ideas presented in chapter four may arise—allow the book to explain itself in the preceding chapters. It would be best for theological students to grasp Pauline theology well; the subjects introduced from the beginning are theologically dense but rewarding.