Biblically (and logically), this seems to be a relatively straightforward question.
Let us consider how God created Adam:
Genesis 2:7: “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7).
When we analyze this verse closely, we should note that it is comprised of three separate clauses each separated by a delimiter (comma or semicolon). Therefore, if we break it down into its constituents:
- “The LORD God formed man of dust from the ground,” – in this first clause, God did not create death; he created a perfect, inanimate, human body from the dust of the ground.
- “[And] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;” – in this second clause, after God created the man’s physical body, He then breathed into the man’s nostrils the breath of life (the spirit)” (emphasis added). Lastly,
- “[And] man became a living being.” – the third clause finally tells us that the man became a living being (body and spirit).
[Note: The "breath" that God breathed into Adam was the man's alone. Nowhere are we told that He simultaneously appropriated Eve's breath from Adam. We cannot simply construct narratives to assuage our personal sentiments. Eve was indeed physically sculpted from Adam's rib, but no, there is no mention whatsoever of her being animated with "Adam's breath" -- this is fiction. We must conclude that God breathed into Eve the breath of life as well: Scripture is often silent with matters we can deduce for ourselves. Each of us is a "dual being"; we all receive our own spirit ("breath") from God, we do not share spirits despite the carnal reference to "they will become one flesh" (Gen. 2:24, Mk. 10:8, Eph. 5:31, etc.). Indeed, as mentioned in the remarks above by @Ruminator,
1 Corinthians 6:16-17: "Or do you not know that the one who joins himself [physically] to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” But the one who joins himself to the Lord [spiritually] is one spirit with Him."
We are "one spirit" with God, not with other human beings. ]
Based on the text, had God not:
- First formed the man, and then
- Breathed into [the man’s] nostrils the breath of life,
he would not have become a living being. This is merely a logical extension of the verse. Otherwise, why not simply say that “the LORD God formed [a living] man from the dust of the ground?”
Some may insist that if God created an inanimate human being (a corpse (Jas. 2:26)), He "created death.” But this is simply untrue. One might just as easily claim that since God created stones, He also “created death,” which is absurd.
As we have all learned from personal experience, these fantastically engineered machines (bodies) of ours (yes, biochemical machines) are highly expendable. Since the Fall of Man, every one of them will fail catastrophically. Despite all of this, that is not what is paramount to God (even though it certainly is to us). Rather, He is intensely interested in our eternal welfare, and that consists of our inner being or spirit, what the Bible refers to as our “inner man”:
2 Corinthians 4:16: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying [and will return to the dust of the ground (Gen. 3:19)], yet our inner [spiritual] man is being renewed day by day” (emphasis added).
When any human dies, particularly when the death is gruesome, we are all shocked because we so closely empathize with the person’s physical and emotional well-being. We tend to personalize what it must have been like for them, relieved that it wasn’t someone that we knew and loved.
It is only when, if ever, we begin to appreciate the mechanistic aspects of our physical makeup (note that I'm not referring to our spiritual one) that we have any chance of understanding God’s point of view: Physically, we are temporary beings or "vessels" (1 Pet. 3:7, 2 Peter 2:21, Rom. 9:23, etc.) that God has instilled with an immortal spirit.
He desires that we will voluntarily choose to spend eternity with Him rather than fall to the alluring nature of the world, one which ultimately leads to eternal spiritual separation. And make no mistake, the malignant forces of this world have every intention of enticing us directly into Hell through life’s many seductions.