The Literal Meaning of Genesis (continued)
BOOK TEN THE ORIGIN OF THE HUMAN SOUL
CHAPTER 1
A consideration of the theory that the soul of Eve was made from the soul of Adam.
1. The natural order of this treatise seems to demand now that I discuss the sin of the first man. But since Scripture has given an account of the making of the body of the woman without saying anything about her soul, I am more eager to look thoroughly into this question and ask how those writers can be refuted or not refuted who think that soul comes from human soul just as body comes from body, the seeds in both cases being passed on from parents to children.!
Their position is that God made just one soul, which He breathed into the face of the man whom He had formed from the dust, so that all other human souls would be created from it, just as all other human bodies are created from the body of the first man. Their fundamental reason for holding this position is that Adam was made first, and then Eve. And Scripture tells us about the source of his body and the source of his soul; that is, his body is from the dust of the earth, and his soul is from the breath of God. But when it is said that Eve was made from Adam's rib, it is not said that God gave her life in a similar fashion by His breath, and the conclusion might be drawn that both her soul and body came from him who had already been given life. For, they say, either there should have been no mention of the soul of man, so that we would understand, or at least believe, according to our ability, that it was given by God; or, if Scripture was not silent for fear that we might suppose that