---

In his letters, the Apostle Paul can express both the confidence that Christ dwells in the believer (Rom. 8:10) and the longing for Christ to return so that believers can finally be united with him (1 Thess. 4:17). Peter Orr develops the case that this under-explored relationship between the presence and absence of Christ sheds important light on Paul´s Christology. In the first part of this book he examines how two of the 20th century´s leading Pauline scholars (Albert Schweitzer and Ernst Käsemann) express almost precisely opposite views regarding the nature of this relationship. Using their polarity as an entry-point, he then turns to examine Paul´s letters. Firstly, he considers Paul´s expression of the absence of Christ, particularly in relationship to the body of Christ. Finally, Orr looks at different modes of Christ´s presence across Paul´s letters and how these relate to his absence.

---