The Reformation
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 60, No. 1 – Fall 2017
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
Christological Anthropology in Historical Perspective: Ancient and Contemporary Approaches to Theological Anthropology. By Marc Cortez. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016. 272 pages. Softcover, $27.99.
Theological Anthropology is the study of human beings within a theological context. While the human is of central importance to philosophical studies and the social sciences, it is also a thriving area of interest within contemporary theology. Christological Anthropology makes a significant contribution to a theology of humans from a Christian perspective. Written by Marc Cortez, it is important to note that it is not simply a study of anthropology from a theistic vantage point in general, but specifically from a Christocentric view. In this way, Cortez is clear that the significance of Christ, as the divine-human, becomes paramount to the study of the anthropos.
Cortez is convinced that Christology makes a unique and specific contribution to anthropology. He presents the reader with a careful survey of some relevant Christological anthropological approaches in historical and contemporary contexts. Yet, his goal is not simply historical in nature; rather, he integrates ancient divines with contemporary theological concerns—thus, making it a constructive contribution. Given that Christological anthropology is a technical term, it is important to explain Cortez’s understanding of it.
The reader might think that all Christian anthropologies are Christological anthropologies, and, in some sense, that would be correct. However, it is possible to approach the human first from the perspective of philosophy or natural theology. Some theologians begin with natural revelation as their starting point. Others might begin from a robust conception grounded in its “creational” context, then move to its redemptive and eschatological contexts. For example, one might look to foundational metaphysics to ascertain the basic meaning and nature of humans by considering humans as soul-body arrangements discernable through introspection (e.g. Descartes), or material bodies as is common in the physical sciences, or teleological beings (e.g. Kant), or some other approach. In a creational context, humans could be considered from the author’s perspective of imago Dei in Genesis or from the perspective of ethics in the Old Testament. While not discounting the insights from these sources, Cortez considers all of these approaches bereft of the deeper human meaning.
Motivated by several theological authorities, Cortez recommends a different approach. He suggests that not only is Christ necessary for understanding specified features of the human—say in redemption or in the eschaton, but Christ provides an “ultimate” and “concrete” framework by which to situate our understanding. Anthropology necessarily and essentially depends upon the divine-human. This is not to say that we cannot learn from other sources, but these items are incomplete and fundamentally lacking without a concrete connection to the person and work of Christ. Christological anthropology is not a one-size-fits-all, however. There are several different understandings of humans via Christology, and it is here that the reader will find the project especially rich and useful.
Cortez begins his study with Gregory of Nyssa. Surprising though it may be to the reader, Nyssa has much to say about gender and sexual identity. Nyssa understands the incarnation as the fundamental starting point for understanding the transformed human. Cortez explores the theological notion of “race” according to James Cone in the second to last chapter. Cone argues that at the conceptual center of anthropology ought to be “liberation.” Julian of Norwich situates her study in the “self-sacrificing” love of the divine-human Lord/Servant. Martin Luther criticizes all views that do not begin with our passive righteousness (i.e., faith) in Christ’s justifying work. Friedrich Schleiermacher takes up Christ’s distinct “God-consciousness” as the central motif uniting God and human. Barth launched into anthropology by way of Christ as the ontological “determinate” for humans. Central to Barth’s theology of the human is the doctrine of “election” where Christ is the true human who provides the metaphysical boundaries for an understanding of humans. Contemporary John Zizioulas argues that humans become persons when they are united to God in Christ; thus, Zizioulas highlights both Trinitarian theology and ecclesiology in his articulation of the human.
Christological Anthropology is a clear, nuanced, and fruitful study. It would serve as an excellent supplement to introductory courses in Systematic Theology and Theological Anthropology. With all that is positive, Cortez left out something that I desired to see. It would have been nice to see how the respective Christological anthropologies cohere with their wider traditional dogmatic commitments. However, Cortez does attempt to connect his study to some of the wider historical developments, and toward the end of his study he raises some useful questions that have not been sufficiently pondered.
