I'll take this one....
It is said that man is the image of God, but given the nature of an omnipresent God, clearly this is not a physical image. Indeed, one of the tenets of Judaism is that God has no physical form. Therefore, this image is a spiritual and/or intellectual image.
God tells Moses that His name is "I am that I am." I believe that Adam was the first Homo sapiens to have the idea, "I am," and thus become the image of God, "I am that I am."
Physically, there were human creatures before Adam, but they were not, spiritually, in the image of God. Adam took -- or was led through -- that necessary step.
Ah, thanks.
The bible says, though, that Adam was made from the dust of the ground. Paul, in Romans 5, calls Adam the first man.
What is your reaction to this position? And, on what authority do you form your own beliefs? Thanks.