“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honour.” - Psalm 8:4-5.
Within the community of Theistic Evolution, there is a great debate over the exact point when mankind attained to the Image of God, and became a living, immortal soul. While I cannot speak upon the hour in which humanity was given the Imago Dei, I feel as though I can say when we were given a soul.
Simply put, I believe that, as it is written in the Scriptures, a soul was given at the very instant our first father, the mother of all living, was formed from the primordial clay. Indeed, that the Last Universal Common Ancestor of life itself was in possession of an immortal soul, as are all of their uncounted children. Why should Homo sapiens be the only one with a soul, and where is it written that only Man has a presence in the spiritual realms?
Is it not written that the Almighty watches over the Sparrow and clothes the grasses of the field? Did not the Donkey of Balaam perceive the Angel standing in the way of her master, and move to save him? How could these things be, save if the other creatures of this world also had a spiritual presence of some sort? Thus is my proof and thus is my evidence, that though humanity alone on this planet is made in the Image of God, the Breath of Life - the immortal soul - dwells in all free-living beings from the very moment of their conception.
To ascend to the Father’s side upon death is the natural state of all life, a state which mankind alone has fallen from in our sinful pride. Humanity alone is damned among the creatures of this world, and for us and the fallen angels are the pits of Sheol solely reserved. Let us therefore not be prideful, believing ourselves to be the uncontested crown of creation - but let us instead live in humility, knowing that whatever status we enjoy as a species, it is from the Grace of God, nor our own work.
