carefully shapes a human body from clay scooped from the earth. The Almighty stoops and breathes into its nostrils. Suddenly what began as a life-size mud doll becomes a living being! God names him Adam, a Hebrew word that also means “dust.” Earthly elements plus the “breath of life” have become a whole man—in Hebrew “a living soul.” From a rib of Adam, the story continues, God then makes Eve—also in the image of God (Gen 2:21–22). Since humans did not exist until God formed them and gave them life,