Calvin famously claimed that there is no knowledge of self without knowledge of God. Barth amended the motion, insisting that there is no knowledge of God without knowledge of Christ. Cortez here extends the logic further, arguing that, theologically speaking, there is no knowledge of self apart from knowledge of the humanity of Christ. Christology does not simply supplement but constitutes the most important things we know about our own humanity. This is a bold claim, to be sure, yet Cortez clearly provides biblical grounding for it and anticipates the likely objections, thereby putting flesh on what many theologians thinly assume but never thickly describe—namely, how, why, and where Christology ought to inform anthropology.
— Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School