The Hebrew Bible teaches that Satan / Devil is a fallen angel

In consideration: Resolved: The Hebrew Bible teaches that Satan / Devil is a fallen angel

Thank you, Kohai, for this debate. I look forward to a challenging and satisfying experience for both of us. For this debate, though more familiar with the King 

James Version [KJV], I will use the New American Standard Bible [NASB] in this debate, in keeping with Pro's preferred Protestant translation.

I Argument: Lucifer: "I will ascend into heaven," Hebrew Bible, Book of Genesis

I.a Isaiah, an 8th century B.C.E. prophet, declared of Lucifer,

“They will all respond and say to you, ‘Even you have become weak as we, You have become like us.

‘Your pride and the music of your harps have been brought down to Sheol; Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you and worms are your covering.’

“How you have fallen from heaven, You star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who defeated the nations!

“But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.

"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.

“Nevertheless you will be brought down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit."[1]

I.a.1 "Lucifer" is the translated-to-Latin [some say mis-translated] name of the Devil from ancient Hebrew, הֵילֵ֣ל [hê-lêl][2], a.k.a. "son of the dawn"[3], or "star of the morning"[3], and other names. 

I.a.2 The word "satan" functioned as a generic noun or verb [an adversary to another, or to oppose someone][4] such as noted in Numbers: "But God was angry that he was going, and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the road as an adversary against him..."[5] In Hebrew, the word is rendered as: לְשָׂטָ֣ן[ha-sa-tan: an adversary; 'ha" being an article in function, as in "the adversary"].

I.b The inference of Isaiah's text is that Lucifer [Satan] was once a part of heaven before the world was, but, during which, he became jealous of God and privately determined to replace him and claim heaven as his own.[4] 

I.c In reference to the Isaiah source[1], and Satan's declaration, "I will raise my throne above the stars of God," Satan is doing no less than declaring his intent to destroy the purpose of creation, itself, i.e., to render "...the heavens and the earth,"[7] and of creation of man, said by God to be “...in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.”[8]

I.c.1 For man to have dominion of all the earth and its living organisms was an awesome responsibility that Satan, himself, wanted to usurp for himself, in addition to "raising his throne above the stars of God." Satan wanted all for himself, thus declaring himself no less than the enemy of God [as Numbers declares, "took his stand in the road as an adversary against him..."[5] [§I.a.2] by his desire to be greater than God and all of God's creations & purposes.

I.c.2 For this satanic declaration, according to Isaiah, when Satan and his minions were cast down from heaven, Isaiah laments "How you have fallen from heaven... You have been cut down to the earth[1]

I.d Therefore, it is consistent with my BoP to declare by these arguments, R1, § I - I.c.2, that the Hebrew Bible teaches that Satan/Devil is a fallen angel; the declaration of the Resolve.

II Argument: Hebrew Bible, Book of Genesis confirmation that Satan is fallen from heaven

II.a Long before Isaiah, an event occurred prior to Adam & Eve's [A&E] banishment from Eden. How and by what? A&E would experience, by Satan's declaration "You will not die...your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”[10] What is "become like God," since A&E were not yet even mortals in Eden, but we share in that in the Edenless, mortal state today, and we share the same capability to "become like God" as confirmed by no less a source for A&E than Satan, in spite of himself. It was Satan saying that such "become like God;" is a transformation of becoming; by "...knowing good and evil." At that point in time, in Eden, A&E lacked such knowledge.

II.a.1 What is knowledge?" Need we really define it? Certainly at a root, knowledge of good and evil is a beginning point, because that implies all manner of opposites; truth and lie, satisfaction and hunger, peace and war, order and chaos... these dichotomies are necessary to our understanding of such complexities in order to have valid "dominion of the Earth," granted to A&E, and, therefore, following in successive generations, to us.

II.b Satan's fall from heaven, and therefore, fall from the presence of God landed him in misery, also banished from Eden. Misery loves company, it is said, and thus, Satan is a fallen angel, continuing his effort of deception by telling us, as to A&E, just enough truth to entrap our efforts to "become like God," which really is: perfect and eternal, and dominion in heaven with God, achieved by our learning the method and purpose of dominion of Earth.

III Argument: Hebrew Bible, Book of Job confirmation that Satan is fallen from heaven

III.a The chronology of the Book of Job is difficult to determine among the books of the Old Testament, the "Hebrew Bible," and even whether Job is an historic entity or simply an allegory, only. In any event, sometime following the banishment from Eden:

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan [הַשָּׂטָ֖ן - ha-sa-tan - the adversary] also came among them.

"And the Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' So Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.'

"The Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.'”[11]

III.b One of the reasons why Job is considered allegory rather than history is because, being banished from heaven before the creation, Satan was never to return there, yet, either here he is, an interloper to this grouping of "the sons of God," "presenting themselves" before God, or, this portion of the story is not occurring in heaven. We don't know which. We depend on other books of the Hebrew Bible to teach us that Satan, once in heaven as depicted by Isaiah, cited above [§I.a - I.d], has fallen to Earth.

IV Argument: Hebrew Bible Genesis confirmation that Satan is fallen from heaven

IV.a By extension from III.b, above, clearly, God can remove himself from heaven as needed, such as in personally visiting A&E in Eden: "Now they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden."[12] Also in subsequent verses, God speaks to Eve, Adam, and Satan, so he is there, and they relate to him when all are there together in the Eden, which is not in heaven, but part of Earth, their various perspectives of their separate activities. If Eden is not part of Earth, why, then, is an angel set in the way such that A&E [and Satan] are prevented from returning there? "So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life."[13]

IV.a.1 Simple logic would tell us that Eden was Earth-bound because we are told

"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it"[14]

IV.b By these 4 arguments, Isaiah, Genesis, Job, and another Genesis, I have upheld the BoP of the Resolve that The Hebrew Bible teaches that Satan / Devil is a fallen angel.

I pass R2 to Con.

R1 Sources:

[1] Holy Bible [NASB] Isaiah 14: 10-15

[2] https://biblehub.com/text/isaiah/14-12.htm

[3] Holy Bible [NASB] Isaiah 14: 12

[4] https://www.1517.org/articles/the-devil-in-the-details-of-the-old-testament-is-satan-in-the-hebrew-bible

[5] Holy Bible [NASB] Numbers 22: 22

[6] deleted

[7] Holy Bible [NASB] Genesis 1: 1

[8] Holy Bible [NASB] Genesis 1: 26

[9] Holy Bible [NASB] Isaiah 14: 12

[10] Holy Bible [NASB] Genesis 3: 4, 5

[11] Holy Bible [NASB] Job 1: 6-8

[12] Holy Bible [NASB] Genesis 3: 8

[13] Holy Bible [NASB] Genesis 3: 24

[14] Holy Bible [NASB] Genesis 2: 8

In consideration: Resolved: The Hebrew Bible teaches that Satan / Devil is a fallen angel

Thank you, Kohai, for your R2.

IV Rebuttal, Con R1: "Intro to Jewish Theology"

V.a Con wrote in R1, "God is in complete control over all of creation and there is no independent forces that opposes Him." With no source citation for that claim, I rebut by noting it is Con's personal opinion that man, today, does not have free will. However, the Hebrew Bible [the Tanakh, or, the Old Testament [OT]]: "God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'”[15] God delegated dominion of Earth to man [Con's "control," and the Bible's "subdue" and "rule over"]. I do not use this verse to refer to A&E specifically, but to emphasize dominion of Earth given to man. I maintain Satan is fallen, and, furthermore, will ultimately have dominion of nothing.

V.b The Hebrew Bible is clear that God has a role in determining human affairs. However, it is equally clear that human beings have the ability to choose their thoughts and actions for themselves, and are, thereby, responsiblefor their consequences of choice. Consider: "The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat;"[16] but warned in the following verse that choices had consequences. Consider, also, the review of previous verses 16-18 for further understanding of free will. Consider, finally, [Moses speaking to the Israelites in the wilderness after leaving Egypt]: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants"[17]

V.c With regard to Con's claim, Rabbi Chanina said, ""if he [the human being] merits it then [G-d says] have dominion, while if he [man] does not merit, then [G-d says] he [man] will be taken down."[18] Further, "...part of human righteousness involves being stewards of the earth [dominion]. 

V.c.1 "The Midrash says that G-d showed Adam around the Garden of Eden and said, 'Look at my works! See how beautiful they are — how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.' Acting righteously thus involves treating the world with utmost respect; for this the human will merit dominion of creation."[19] Dominion, for man, is righteous stewardship of Earth, conditional on the dedication of man to that righteousness while refusing the influence of Satan. But further, whereas Con said, "God is in complete control..." clearly, if man dominates poorly in his given dominion, no one [not even God?] will repair it.[19] 

V.d I conclud that, based on my R1 arguments of Satan's opposition to God, and Rabbi Chanina's cited commentary[18][19], in my §V.c. and V.c.1 above, it follows that man, himself, can choose to oppose his assigned role of righteous dominion of the Earth, and thereby oppose God, or can choose righteous dominion of the Earth. Neither Con nor I will meet our respective BoP of this debate by personal opinion, alone. Since man can oppose God, contrary to Con's opinion from his R1, so can Satan. See rebuttal V, below. I have cited from the Hebrew Bible [R1, sources [1], [5] [7]-[14]] to prove my BoP that "The Hebrew Bible teaches that Satan / Devil is a fallen angel."

V Rebuttal, Con R1: "Who or what is Satan"

V.a Con wrote in R1, "The word satan comes from the Hebrew word שטן, which literally means an adversary or opposer." Then he discusses the number of times "Satan" is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: 27 times, but notes that, "There are only four places in all of Tenakh where Satan is used as a cosmic enemy such as an angel: Numbers, Zechariah, Job, and Chronicles..." and then quotes from those four biblical references. One concludes that 23 OT references refer to man as an allegory of the evil "satan," but that still leaves 4 references that, in fact, Satan, himself, is a fallen angel by Con admitting Satan is: "...a cosmic enemy such as an angel." Angels, therefore, can be righteous, following God, or evil, following Satan. This is the Resolution, itself, that Satan/Devil is a "fallen angel" since, according to Isaiah [see my R1 ref [1], Isaiah 14: 10-15, “How you have fallen from heaven, You star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth..." That is exactly my BoP, that Satan is a fallen angel, and that is straight from the source: the Hebrew Bible. Does it matter how often that is made evident? Once is sufficient. At least four times is better.

VI Rebuttal, Con R2: re; Isaiah 14: 10-15, "from the context it is clear that this is not about Satan"

VI.a I acknowledge the allegorical slant Isaiah may have relative to the Devil, but Isaiah is but 2 of 11 total Hebrew Bible references I made in my R1 argument, and Con did not rebut any of the other references I cited, nor their related arguments. Those arguments stand.

VII Rebuttal, Con R2, II: "I interpret the garden of eden story to be metaphorical and not literal"

VII.a Once again, Con depends upon his own opinion without citation of scholastic evidence. That will will not suffice, particularly with regard to the three other OT references I made [[Pro R1 sources: Genesis [7, 8, 10, 12-14], Numbers [5], and Job [11]]

which are not allegory, oracle, or prophecy, and stipulate that Satan is fallen from heaven.

VIII Rebuttal, Con R2, III; "The LDS Big Blunder"

VIII.a Since the Hebrew Bible makes no mention of LDS theology, nor have I, although I am a member of good standing in that religion, and embrace it, I have made no mention of it in my R1, and object to its mention in this debate since it is beyond Con's stated scope of the Resolve from the Hebrew Bible. I therefore declare foul. I do claim discussion of the whereabouts of Satan is within the Resolve scope, since his location is a matter of the Resolve; i.e., "fallen" from whence? Therefore, discussion of whether or not LDS theology relative to Eden, or anything else, is a "blunder," Con's claim of "LDS blunders" is not a valid subject of this debate. This is my last word on it, and Con's R2 had best be my opponent's last word, as well.

IX Argument: More biblical evidence Satan/Devil is a fallen angel

IX.a Con's R1 argued that Satan has 27 mentions in the Hebrew Bible [OT], as if the count is relevant. That 23 of those mentions may refer to man being the "satan" by allegory, and not Satan, himself, as Con alleged, is not relevant, either if even 1 mention is concerning Satan, the Devil. My R1 rebutted that there are 4 mentions in which "Satan/Devil" is a fallen angel, which is my BoP. I now introduce a 5th Hebrew Bible [Tanakh] mention, by sufficient description to conclude the subject of the verses is not man by allegory, but the Devil by reality. Ezekiel testified that this personage was once on "'the Mountain of God," but was "...turned to ashes upon the earth" Spoken to by Ezekiel in the guise of the King of Tyre. I say "in the guise" because the King of Tyre was a mortal man, not an angel, and not an inhabitant of "the Mountain of God," nor of "Eden" by any debate-allowed scriptural reference: 

"You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

"“You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering... 

“You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering.

"...You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.

"“You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.

"...And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.

"You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I threw you to the ground;

"...I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you."[20]

IX.b There can be no doubt that Satan was once with God, during creation, as an angel, a "cherub," but by the time Eden was populated with plants and animals and Adam & Eve, Satan was already banished from God's presence to be a dweller on Earth. Thus is my BoP confirmed: Satan, a fallen angel, is an enemy of God, in opposition to God, contrary to Con's R1, §Intro claim, and his R2's rebuttal of my R1.

I pass R3 to Con 

Sources: R2

[15] Holy Bible [NASB] Genesis 1: 28

[16] Holy Bible [NASB] Genesis 2: 16

[17] Holy Bible [NASB] Deuteronomy 30: 19

[18] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/genesis-and-human-stewardship-of-the-earth/

[19] ibid

[20] Holy Bible [NASB] Ezekiel 28:12-18

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