St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology (Aug 2024)
Jesus Christ as Ancestor
Abstract
One of the recurring themes in African Christian theological discourse is that of Christ as ‘an ancestor’. This article considers the meaning of Jesus Christ as an ‘ancestor’, first by introducing African ancestral belief and then examining perspectives from African theologians who apply ancestor language to Christology. The article then assesses the interface between Christian and African traditional beliefs within the themes of mediation and cosmology. Rather than seeking to comprehensively describe Jesus as an ancestor in African theology, this article explores the proposal that Jesus Christ can be helpfully conceived as Yesu/Jesu in the African context. African theologians employ contextualization and inculturation as theological methodologies to formulate ancestor Christology. This article engages with an African linguistic affinity Christology methodology by using the transliterated Hebrew Yeshua and the Greek Yesus (the African version of which is Yesu or Jesu). The term ‘African linguistic affinity christological methodology’ is used to refer to a particular form of Christology formulated in Africa that explores a universally accepted name for Jesus in the continent – one which seeks to be faithful to the Bible and also aligns with Yahweh’s promises and covenants made to the Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses in the Old Testament that have been fulfilled in the New (see Luka 2019: 7–10, 279–358). As such, this entry delves into the hermeneutical and grammatical distinctions between the English definite article, ‘the’, and the indefinite article, ‘an’, as they pertain to the references of ‘the Christ’ and ‘an Ancestor’. This analysis is conducted considering the impact of globalization on contextual theologies. Perspectives on ancestor Christology from African theologians are considered, after which it is suggested that the positioning of Christ as ancestor offers a diachronic and synchronic weaving of Christian theology and African tradition. The entry concludes with a consideration of the future of ancestor Christology.
