In my own simplistic way, I perceive the debate as turning on whether Adam
was created separately from the animals (newly created) or whether he was
created by descent from the animals.
In Gen 2:7 God makes man from dust and then breathes the breath of life
into the man, whereupon he becomes a living soul. There was certainly
nothing new about the dust. And while several of you disagree with me on
this aspect, I believe that God was giving the man much, much more than
simply physical life when he breathed the breath of life into the man.
After all in Gen 1:24 the land creatures are created from the earth with no
mention of God's breathing the breath of life into them. So it seems to me
reasonable to say that what made man absolutely different from the animals
-- a new creation -- is the breathing of the breath of life into the man.
To me it's significant that the Hebrew word used for breath in this case (I
believe it's n'shama (I don't have all the phonic characters Strong's has))
can also mean spirit.
Some support for this position might come from (among other places) 5:17:
"If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away;
behold new things have come."
The newness is not physical, but the newness in spirit that comes from the
indwelling Holy Spirit.
Bill Hamilton | Vehicle Systems Research
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)
hamilton@gmr.com (office) | whamilto@mich.com (home)