The Beached White Male Podcast with Ken Kemp Ken Kemp

This discussion of Alabama’s ruling triggered a deeper theological thought about the Bible and creation. Much of the Bible is metaphorical or the reëmergence of ancient stories and myths. Jesus taught using parables with underlying truths that had to be parsed. Most hearers didn’t understand the spiritual dimension of the parables.

Going back to Genesis, what does the text tell us about the creation of a human? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are in the Lenten period and recently, in liturgical churches, believers had ashes imposed on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. We now know from science that all planetary bodies in the universe coalesced from particles in the cosmos. We can think of earth as being made from stardust that through eons compressed into a rotating ball of matter in the universe.

The text tells us that God formed a human form from the stardust of earth. That act alone did not create a living being just as machines molding plastic into Ken and Barbie did not create living bodies as depicted in the metaphoric movie. The lump of clay became a living being when God breathed life into that madman.

The translations of the Bible refer to this breath as the Holy Spirit. In Hebrew (ruach) and Greek (pneuma) the words for spirit also mean breath or wind. Properly understood, when the fetus develops sufficiently to be born, it is the first breath that brings life to the newly born. It is no accident that the lungs are the last of the major organs to be fully developed.

Taken into this context, when human infants take their first deep breath, the mystical spirit of God is imparted by the holy breath of God. That is the moment the human becomes a living being.

For reference, read THE BODY OF GOD by Sallie McFahue (Minnesota: Augsburg Fortress, 1993).

I listened to the episode with the author of I tried to be straight. It was all over the place but was sad to hear the interviewer say being white is a problem. Seriously? That was incredibly offensive. So you wish you were born otherwise? Also the book author admitted to living a non celibate life. Does that not cause for any concern? I guess not. Anyway I don’t think I’m your audience or targeted market for this podcast so I’ll say my ado which I’m sure you’ll be happy to hear. We’ll just have to agree to disagree and somehow by God’s grace still love each other.

I discovered Ken’s podcast a few months ago. I was an evangelical for 25 years. My daughter came out as being gay nine years ago. Since then I realized that the literal translation of the Bible makes no sense and I had my awakening. It was a very difficult and painful time of my life. By God‘s grace, my husband and I found an affirming Methodist Church that we are actively involved in. I am learning a lot from Ken’s insightful podcasts & his guests. It’s encouraging to know that there are a lot of people who are changing their minds of the evangelical teachings. Keep up the good work, Ken!