Abstract

Christological reflection situated within the living transmission of an African Church is always a historical and cultural event. The revelation of God in Jesus Christ carries with it a narrative of contextual, historical events. The example of Jesus in his life corresponds in a certain way to the criteria of the good human life of an African person, who is designated to become an ancestor within the community. The ancestor is the model of how human life should be lived in the majority of African cultures. According to Charles Nyamiti, Christ is our ancestor because he is the model of the fullness of how African life should be lived. The ancestors have the responsibility of mediating a full and good life to the community and this role is compared to that of Jesus who is the supreme mediator of salvation between God and us. Bénézet Bujo prefers the term Proto-Ancestor for Jesus, noting the fact that the mediation of Jesus works at a different, deeper and more unique level. The uniqueness of Jesus as saviour must enter the fullness of the African people’s everyday life. In fact Christology is probably the more developed area of African theology, and in this work African theologians have toiled in developing inculturated expressions of Jesus Christ.