Christ Absent and Present: A Study in Pauline Christology

Written by Peter Orr Reviewed By Jeffrey W. Aernie

The present monograph constitutes a revision of Orr’s PhD thesis, completed at the University of Durham under the supervision of Prof. Francis Watson. Orr’s primary thesis is that the absence of Christ in Paul’s theology represents an important characteristic of the apostle’s Christology. Orr notes that the important emphasis on Christ’s presence in Pauline studies—particularly with respect to ecclesiology and pneumatology—often outweighs the parallel reality of Christ’s absence. If the exalted Christ continues to have a unique and particular bodily existence, then this will impact the way we understand both his presence and absence. Consequently, Orr seeks to highlight the emphasis in the Pauline corpus on Christ’s absence, and then attempts to show how that theological distinctive impacts the way in which we understand Christ’s presence.

In lieu of the standard literature review, Orr opens his study with a comparative analysis of the way in which Albert Schweitzer and Ernst Käsemann understand the Pauline emphasis on Christ’s absence and presence. Orr’s analysis pertains primarily to the way in which each scholar understands Paul’s conception of the exalted Christ. Schweitzer’s exegetical analysis leads to a description of the exalted Christ as located exclusively in heaven, while Käsemann focuses more prominently on Christ’s ongoing, Spirit-mediated presence. Orr notes that a missing dynamic in both Schweitzer and Käsemann is a sustained focus on the “experiential absence between Christ and believers” (p. 40). Orr provides a careful reading of both Schweitzer and Käsemann, and the two scholars provide an interesting foil for this aspect of Pauline studies. However, while Orr notes that the intent of this analysis was only to provide an entry point into his own discussion, the study would have benefitted from a stronger connection between this opening analysis and the following exegetical material.

The strength of Orr’s study lies in the extensive exegetical analysis that constitutes the rest of the monograph. Orr develops his thesis by developing three distinct aspects of Christ’s absence. He begins by outlining the role of Christ’s absence within Paul’s theology through a discussion of Phil 1:21–26 and 1 Thess 4:15–17. Orr’s examination of Phil 1 provides a particularly insightful discussion of the distinction between being in and with Christ. The second aspect of Orr’s analysis of Christ’s absence consists of a discussion of the nature of Christ’s exalted bodily existence, which focuses primarily on 1 Cor 15 and, to a lesser extent, Rom 8. Readers will find Orr’s engagement with Dale Martin, Troels Engberg-Pedersen, and M. David Litwa to be both fair and insightful. Orr’s basic conclusion is that the exalted Christ maintains a unique and distinct bodily existence. This emphasis on the exalted Christ’s bodily existence provides the catalyst for the third aspect of Orr’s analysis, namely a discussion of Christ’s bodily absence. Here Orr surveys 2 Cor 5:6–8 and Phil 3:20–21 to demonstrate that Christ’s absence is indeed bodily. Orr again provides a nuanced discussion of the texts, but it remains unclear why 2 Cor 5:9—which also contains the essential language of presence (ἐνδημέω) and absence (ἐκδημέω)—was not included in the analysis. Given the unique nature of this language in the Pauline corpus it would have been beneficial to see how this final occurrence might affect Orr’s broader thesis.

The last major section of Orr’s study seeks to draw out the implications of his extended analysis of the bodily absence of the exalted Christ. If Christ is indeed absent bodily, then in what ways can his presence be known? As a way in which to answer this question, Orr provides three examples of distinct modes of Christ’s presence in the Pauline corpus: (1) epiphanic, (2) dynamic, and (3) bodily. In Orr’s terminology, Christ’s epiphanic presence describes the way in which Christ remains present in the world as an object of human sense-experience. Here Orr works closely with Paul’s argument in 2 Corinthians to show the way in which the apostle mediates Christ in his gospel ministry. Perhaps the most significant weakness at this stage of Orr’s study is the persistent dichotomy that he attempts to develop between Paul’s proclamation and embodiment of the gospel. Both of these aspects of Paul’s ministry serve as important foci in the argument of the letter. In contrast to this first mode of presence, Christ’s dynamic presence reflects the way in which Christ is present through his own activity. Importantly for Orr, however, this activity is always mediated. Christ is simultaneously absent and active. Lastly, Orr’s discussion of Christ’s bodily presence pertains to those texts in the Pauline corpus in which Christ appears to maintain an embodied existence in the world (1 Cor 12:1–31), in the believer (Rom 8:9–10), and in the church (1 Cor 10:1–16). In reality, this third category is actually a subset of Christ’s dynamic presence, as Orr argues that Christ’s ongoing somatic presence is simply one of the ways in which the absent Christ is mediated by the Spirit.

Despite certain exegetical disagreements, Orr’s thesis demonstrates a careful and engaging analysis of the scriptural texts with which he interacts. It is clear from Orr’s consistent line of thought that the absence of the exalted Christ is an essential component of the Pauline corpus, and an important corrective in our understanding of the function and nature of Christ’s presence in the apostle’s wider theology. Orr’s monograph represents an important contribution to the wider scholarly conversation about Paul’s Christology.


Jeffrey W. Aernie

Jeffrey W. Aernie
Charles Sturt University
North Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

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