Creation of Adam

The creation of the first human being, Adam, by God from the dust of the earth and the breathing of divine spirit into him. Foundational to all three Abrahamic faiths, this event establishes humanity’s unique status as made in God’s image, appointed as steward of creation, yet also vulnerable to sin and in need of redemption.

The Biblical Accounts

Genesis 1: The Image of God

The Sixth Day (Genesis 1:26-31):

• After creating heavens, earth, plants, animals
• God said: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness”
• “So they may rule over” all creation
• “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”
• Blessed them: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it”
• Given dominion over all living creatures
• Given plants for food (vegetarian diet initially)
• “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good”

Key Themes:

• Created in God’s image (imago Dei)
• Both male and female bear God’s image
• Humanity as pinnacle of creation
• Stewardship over creation
• Created last, crown of creation

Genesis 2: From Dust to Life

The Detailed Account (Genesis 2:4-7):

• “No shrub had yet appeared…for the LORD God had not sent rain…and there was no one to work the ground”
• “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground”
• Hebrew: adamah (ground/earth) → adam (man/humanity)
• “Breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”
• “Man became a living being” (nephesh chayyah)

Placed in Eden (Genesis 2:8-17):

• God planted garden in Eden
• Put the man there
• Trees pleasant and good for food
• Tree of life in midst of garden
• Tree of knowledge of good and evil
• Four rivers flowed from Eden
• Man to work and take care of garden
• May eat from any tree except tree of knowledge
• “When you eat from it you will certainly die”

Naming the Animals (Genesis 2:18-20):

• “Not good for man to be alone”
• God brought animals to man to name
• Giving names = authority, understanding
• But no suitable helper found
• Sets up creation of Eve

Two Creation Accounts?

Literary Analysis:

• Genesis 1: Cosmic, ordered, seven days, “God” (Elohim)
• Genesis 2: Garden-focused, detailed, “LORD God” (YHWH Elohim)
• Traditional view: Two perspectives of same event
• Critical view: Two sources (P and J) combined
• Complementary accounts emphasizing different aspects

The Islamic Account

The Quranic Narrative

Created from Clay (Multiple Surahs):

• Quran 15:26: “We created man from dried clay, from black mud molded into shape”
• Quran 23:12: “We created man from an extract of clay”
• Quran 32:7-9: “He began the creation of man from clay, then made his offspring from…water. Then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His Spirit”
• Emphasis on humble material origin

The Divine Council (Quran 2:30):

• Allah said to the angels: “I am going to place a vicegerent (khalifah) on earth”
• Angels questioned: “Will You place therein one who will make mischief…and shed blood?”
• Allah: “I know that which you do not know”
• Foreshadows human capacity for both good and evil

Teaching Adam the Names

Knowledge Given (Quran 2:31-33):

• Allah taught Adam the names of all things
• Angels couldn’t name them
• Adam could
• Demonstrates human capacity for knowledge
• Superiority through divinely-given knowledge
• Language as divine gift

The Prostration

Angels Commanded to Bow (Quran 2:34, 7:11-12, 15:28-35, 38:71-77):

• Allah commanded angels to prostrate to Adam
• All angels obeyed
• Except Iblis (Satan)
• Iblis refused: “I am better than him; You created me from fire and created him from clay”
• Pride and rebellion
• Iblis cursed, became enemy of humanity

Significance:

• Adam honored above angels
• Test of obedience for angels
• Origin of Satan’s enmity toward humanity
• Human dignity despite humble material origin

Theological Significance

The Image of God (Imago Dei)

What Does It Mean?:

• Relationship: Capacity for relationship with God
• Rationality: Reason, creativity, language
• Morality: Conscience, ability to distinguish good/evil
• Dominion: Stewardship over creation
• Spirituality: Soul/spirit, transcends mere matter

Implications:

• Human dignity intrinsic
• All humans equal before God (same origin)
• Humans distinct from animals
• Accountability to Creator
• Potential for relationship with divine

Humanity’s Role

Stewardship (Genesis 1:28):

• “Fill the earth and subdue it”
• “Rule over” living creatures
• Not exploitation but responsible care
• Accountable to Creator for creation
• Khalifah in Islamic thought: vicegerent, trustee

Work as Blessing:

• Even before Fall, Adam worked garden (Genesis 2:15)
• Work part of original design, not curse
• Meaningful labor as human calling
• Cultivation and creativity

The Dual Nature

From Dust:

• Material origin: earth, clay, dust
• Humble beginning
• Physical, mortal, limited
• Connected to earth, to nature
• Will return to dust

Divine Breath:

• Spirit from God
• Transcendent dimension
• Bears God’s image
• Capacity for eternal relationship
• More than mere matter

The Tension:

• “Dust and divinity”
• Finite yet bearing infinite image
• Earthly yet spiritual
• This tension creates human condition

Different Emphases Across Traditions

Jewish Perspective

Created Good:

• Humanity not inherently sinful
• Image of God never lost
• Free will to choose good or evil
• Responsibility and commandments
• Tikkun olam: Repairing the world

Adam as Individual and Humanity:

• Adam = first man
• Adam = humanity collectively
• Individual and corporate identity
• All descended from one couple = human unity

Christian Perspective

Fallen Image:

• Image of God marred but not destroyed by Fall
• All humanity in Adam (Romans 5:12)
• Need for redemption through second Adam (Christ)
• Original sin inherited from Adam
• Restoration through Christ

Federal Headship:

• Adam as representative of all humanity
• His choice affects all descendants
• Parallel with Christ as new head of redeemed humanity
• One man’s disobedience vs. one man’s obedience

Islamic Perspective

Khalifah (Vicegerent):

• Humanity as Allah’s representatives on earth
• Trust and responsibility
• No inherited sin from Adam
• Each person accountable for own deeds
• Adam’s sin forgiven after repentance

Fitrah (Natural State):

• Humans created with innate inclination toward God
• Born in state of purity
• Sin is deviation, not nature
• Can return to original state through Islam (submission)

Scientific and Historical Questions

Literalism vs. Symbolism

Young Earth Creationism:

• Literal six-day creation ~6,000-10,000 years ago
• Adam historical individual
• All humans descended from Adam and Eve
• Science must accord with Genesis literally

Old Earth Creationism:

• Long ages/days
• Adam as historical but ancient
• Room for geological and cosmological age

Theistic Evolution:

• God guided evolutionary process
• Adam as theological truth more than historical
• Imago Dei as spiritual reality
• Symbolic of human emergence into God-consciousness

Literary/Mythological:

• Creation accounts as theological truth in narrative form
• Not scientific/historical claims
• Profound truths about human nature and divine relationship
• Genre: ancient Near Eastern creation theology

Ancient Near Eastern Context

Similar Creation Stories:

• Enuma Elish (Babylonian): Humans created from god’s blood and clay
• Atrahasis Epic: Humans created to serve gods
• Egyptian accounts: Humans formed by gods

Biblical Distinctives:

• One God, not pantheon
• Humans created in God’s image (not slaves)
• Creation good (not struggle among gods)
• Ethical/relational, not just functional

Modern Implications

Human Dignity

Every Human Bears Image:

• Foundation for human rights
• Basis for equality
• Against racism, slavery, oppression
• Sanctity of human life
• Inherent worth, not earned

Environmental Stewardship

Not Dominion as Domination:

• Care for creation
• Sustainable use
• Accountability to Creator
• Earth not ours to destroy
• Balance between use and care

Purpose and Meaning

Not Random:

• Created with purpose
• Relationship with Creator
• Meaningful existence
• Work and creativity as vocation
• Life has significance

Significance

In the beginning, God reached down to dust and fashioned a creature unique in all creation—made from earth yet bearing heaven’s image, mortal yet eternal, finite yet transcendent. The breath of God entered clay, and humanity was born.

This is our origin story across all three Abrahamic faiths. Dust and divine breath. Earth and image of God. We are simultaneously humble and exalted, limited and limitless, creatures and image-bearers. In Adam, we see ourselves—our glory and our fragility, our calling and our condition.

Whether understood as literal history, theological truth in narrative form, or divinely-guided process, the creation of Adam establishes foundational truths: We are made by God, for relationship with God, bearing God’s image, given purpose and responsibility, accountable to our Creator. We are not accidents, not mere animals, not meaningless. We are dust—but dust into which God breathed life.

The angels prostrated to Adam in Islamic tradition not because Adam was inherently superior but because he bore divine knowledge, divine trust, divine image. Even made from clay, humanity carries extraordinary dignity. Even returning to dust, we remain image-bearers.

From Adam comes both our greatest glory and our deepest tragedy. In him, we were created good. In him, we fell. In the second Adam (Christ, for Christians), we can be restored. But it all begins here—in a garden, with dust and breath, with God’s creative word calling forth humanity.

“Let us make mankind in our image.” And it was so. And it was very good. The image may be marred, but it endures. The dust returns to earth, but the spirit returns to God. And the story that began with creation waits for consummation, when dust and divinity finally reconcile, when image and reality fully align, when what we were meant to be becomes what we are.

All of human history flows from this moment—from dust to life, from breath to being, from divine word to human existence. Adam’s story is our story. The garden may be lost, but the image remains. And the Creator who formed humanity from dust can remake what was marred, restore what was broken, and bring the children of Adam home.

“From dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” But that’s not the end of the story. It’s the beginning.