JESUS AS PROTO-ANCESTOR Joseph Ola Abstract Within the framework of Yoruba trado-religious understanding, this essay seeks to evaluate the reasoning behind the possibility of describing Jesus as an ancestor—a Proto-Ancestor—and the theological implications of such a description. The essay appraises specifically, the African ancestral Christology within the Yoruba trado-religious understanding. The essay ends with the author’s response to the theologically controversial practice. Introduction To be African is, generically speaking, to be religious and communally minded. As John Mbiti rightly stated, ‘[t]he African is notoriously reli- gious.’ 1 The common thread of a belief in a Supreme Being who creates, oversees and influences all of life runs through the tapestry of Africa’s diverse cultures—albeit, with differing nuances and emphases.