Cohoon/Gary Debate on Satan

 
 
 Proposition: 
 The Scriptures teach that God created a ...being that fell...and 
now is the epitome of evil known as "Satan."

AFFIRM: Bobby Cohoon
DENY: James Gary

In my first affirmative I defined the terms as I saw them and the 
proceeded to present several points that prove these points from 
the scriptures. The first point I addressed was that only God is 
eternal. This point was summed up when the writer of Hebrews 
wrote about Melchizedek, a type of Christ, “Without father, 
without mother, without descent, hauing neither beginning of 
dayes nor end of life: but made like vnto the Sonne of God, 
abideth a Priest continually” (Hebrews 7:3). 

From this point I moved on to the creations of God. The Bible is 
very plan when addressing this subject; not one thing has been 
made visible or invisible in the Heavens that God did not create; 
John1:3 “All things were made by him, and without him was not any 
thing made that was made;” “For by him were all things created, 
that are in heaven, and that are in earth” (Colossians 1:16); 
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that 
are in earth” (Colossians 1:16).” Nothing has been created 
without God. I believe it is here that my opinions begin to 
differ from those of my opponent.

It is my belief that the Bible teaches that God can only create 
“GOOD.” We have no written account of God creating anything past 
the creation week in Genesis. At the end of that week it is 
recorded that “… God saw euery thing that hee had made: and 
behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31a KJV 1611).  God created 
nothing but GOOD because the very nature of God limits him to 
that: “for there is no iniquitie with the Lord our God” (2 
Chronicles 19:7 kjv 1611) [this verse was erroneously listed as 1 
chronicles 19:7 in my first affirmative].

Thus far I have shown the Biblical proof that 1. Only God is 
eternal; 2. Everything was created by God; 3. God can only create 
“good”. Next I moved to the question of the existence of Satan. 

I showed the “type” of Satan that was presented in Ezekiel in the 
form of the King of Tyre. Of the king of Tyre Ezekiel recorded: 
“Thou wast perfect in thy wayes from the day that thou wast 
created, till iniquitie was found in thee” (Ezekiel 18:15 KJV 
1611). Of this “type” of Satan it was recorded “Thou hast beene 
in Eden the garden of God” (Ezekiel 28:13).  This type of Satan 
was the Serpent of Genesis 3 as well as the Serpent/Satan of 
Revelation 12:19 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old 
serpent, called the deuill and Satan, which deceiueth the whole 
world: hee was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast 
out with him.”  This Satan was the the same real entity that 
Jesus knew so well: “And he was there in the wildernesse fourtie 
daies tempted of Satan, and was with the wildbeasts, and the 
Angels ministred vnto him” (Mark 1:13 KJV 1611). 

Brother Gary believes that there is no Satan.  He has fallen back 
on the claims of mistranslations instead of transliterations of 
the Hebrew. He has quoted extensively from Young’s Literal 
Translation of the Old Testament, but refuses to acknowledge that 
it is Young’s that TRANSLATES the New Testament instead of 
TRANSLITERATING it. The Greek manuscripts of the TEXTUS RECEPTUS 
and the WESCOT HORT both have the Greek word “satanas” that 
Young’s translates as “adversary” in each case.  Brother Gary 
claims that the name “Satan” is not a proper noun. Yet, in 
Young’s the word is used 36 times: each Capitalized as a Proper 
noun or name. Though Young choose to translate the word “satanas” 
instead of transliterating it as Wycliffe did, Young recognized 
the fact that it was a NAME and a PROPER NOUN. Young’s version of 
Luke 22:31 “the ADVERSARY did ask you for himself;” Wycliffe 
rendered it as “SATANAS hath axid you,” compare the words in 
capitals with the Greek word of both the TR and the WH: SATANAS. 
By the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Gospel writers recorded 
that satanas was a real entity; an entity know by Jesus and an 
entity that was in direct opposition to the righteousness of God. 

Quite interesting to me was the fact that Mr. Gary’s acumen is 
nothing more than a paradox: It is based on contradictory 
statements. Brother Gary suggest that God, not Satan as the 
“adversary” to Job and to all men in general including our 
Savior. He fails to understand that God never says, “I will give 
you the power:” God only lifts the hedge of His protection from 
around Job. Satan recognizes this hedge of protection as he asks 
of God: “Hast not thou made an hedge about him” (Job 1:10 KJV 
1611). Brother Gary also doesn’t recognize that God lifts this 
hedge: “And the Lord said vnto Satan, Behold, all that hee hath 
is in thy power” (Job 1:12 KJV 1611).  

While in the book of Job Brother Gary also fails to recognize a 
metaphor. A messenger to Job reports “The fire of God is fallen 
from heauen” (Job 1:16 KJV 1611). The “Fire of God” is nothing 
more than a metaphor for lightening. Just as the “voice of God” 
was often used metaphorically for thunder. Why the Holy Spirit 
guided the writer of Job with the use of metaphors, I do not 
know. I can only believe that it was recorded in a way that the 
people, the readers, would understand, mush the way the 
Revelation and Matthew 24 was written in symbols that the readers 
would understand as the events leading up to the fall of 
Jerusalem. Whatever the reason, the Holy Spirit used metaphors. 
And, “the fire of God” is a metaphor for “lightening.” 

Also involved in this paradoxal view of Satan Brother Gary 
creates another problem in his logic. Down here in the south we 
are fond of joking with each other and saying that “one is not 
crazy when he talks to himself, it is only when he answers back 
that he is crazy.” That is just the situation that Brother Gary 
has set God in. If God were the adversary in Job as Brother Gary 
claims, then we have a situation of God not only talking to 
himself, but answering Himself. If this be the case then I pose 
the following question which I assume Brother Gary will answer 
when he begins his affirmatives:

Why would God talk to himself in a way as is presented in Job?
Why would the Holy Spirit not record that God is the Adversary; 
would this not make it clearer for the readers?
Why does God talk to himself and answer Himself under an assumed 
personality of Satan?

Brother Gary sets up the same paradox with Jesus. He has Jesus 
being tempted in Matthew 4 by his own self. In spite of the words 
that the Holy Spirit felt we were to have: “Then Jesus was led up 
to the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil” 
(Matthew 4:1 Young’s Literal Translation). I presented this verse 
in Young’s to also show that Young used a Capitol “D” thus 
rendering it as a proper noun (Wycliffe rendered it as “the 
feend” and the AV 1611 rendered it as devil; neither rendered it 
as a proper noun only Young). It is interesting in this verse 
that Young not only translated, but saw fit to translate as a 
proper noun.  Brother Gary says “The word "satan" is not in the 
literal translation of Young's.  The word is properly translated 
"adversary." I admit that Young does not use the word satan, but 
had Young transliterated his New Testament as Wycliffe and others 
have done it would have been filled with the word Satan: SATANAS. 

Brother Gary has suggested that those who have been delivered, 
cured, of unclean spirits were in fact not possessed by spirits 
at all. He has written that “It (being healed of unclean 
spirits)is synonymous with the healing of diseases” (James Gary’s 
second denial). He went on to say “Evil or unclean spirits are 
not spiritual beings but conditions of the heart or mind” (Jame 
Gary second denial). To this I ask you brother Gary: How can the 
condition of ones heart or mind leave and go into a herd of pigs? 
“Then went the deuils out of the man, and entred into the swine: 
and the herd ran violently downe a steepe place into the lake, 
and were choked” (Luke 8:33 KJV 1611). 

Only God is eternal. All things were made by God. By his nature, 
God can only create good. God created a spiritual being that fell 
from that state of righteousness and became the epitome of evil: 
SATAN. Satan is a real entity: A spiritual being directly opposed 
to the work and will of God. 

In His Service,
Bobby Cohoon