EXTRACTS FROM "ROBERT W. LANDIS,"
On the Immortality of the Soul, pp. 518. On page 136 he says: "In Gen. i, 26–28, we have a statement of the fact that God created man; and a declaration of man's superiority to other living creatures in the fact that he was created to have dominion over them. "Such was his state before the fall; but since he became a sinner, and has rebelled against God, he no longer has this pre-eminence over them. "In Gen. ii, 7, however, we have the fact described, the existence of which is simply declared in chapter 1: "And the Lord God made man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became (or was thereby constituted) a living soul." "Here, then, it is distinctly stated that after God had created from the ground the corporeal part of Adam, the soul was added, which was, of course, not produced from the earth or elements as the body was. If, therefore, the soul was not formed from the same material as the body, on what principle can it be said to perish with the body?" On page 141, after stating in brief that materialists "with great parade proceed to show first, that all other animals are called living souls; and secondly, that all other animals have the breath of life;" he says,
"It seems out of character to enter into thorough philological criticism with such men; for they cannot understand it." "The idea in the original is sufficiently obvious; God had made the body of the man out of the dust of the ground, as the animals had been made. But as yet man was only their equal. But more than this was needed; an intelligent governor over them was required; and hence something was to be added to the mere animal life, derived from the dust of the ground. "Had man remained as he then was he would have been as unfit to be their governor as the ourang-outang. Hence in his case God did what was done in no other instance of all the animal creation. "He imparted to him directly (breathed into his face, countenance) a principle of intelligence. Then his creation was complete, and he too, took his place as a living, moving creature upon the earth. "It seems impossible to mistake the obvious sense of the passage. And I now ask, What have the objections of Mr. Dobney and his coadjutors to do with this argument? But let our adversaries show a solitary instance in which it is said that God, in creating other animals, constituted them living creatures by breathing into them the breath of life. If Mr. Dobney can do this, let it be done. If he cannot, then we must charge upon him and his friends a culpable equivocation in pretending to meet the issue which is presented in the aforesaid argument." I transmit the above argument, exposition or criticism without comment, confessing that I am one of those who do not UNDERSTAND IT. Respectfully yours,
M. M. H. Lapeer, Mich., Nov. 15th. 1859.