Posted on 10/02/2008 9:37:15 AM PDT by Gamecock
Today's offering:
Assumption of Mary
The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox teaching that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was assumed bodily into heaven either shortly before her death or shortly after. The Catholics do not dogmatize when Mary was assumed but the Orthodox believe that the assumption took place three days after her death. Although this doctrine finds no biblical support and little support in early Church history, it was dogmatically and infallibly declared to be true by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950 in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus.
Read the official pronouncement
Read a refutation of the Assumption by William Webster
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“Assumption” is definitely the right word!
Dude! That sounds rash. Didn't you read the proclamation? It's clearly states that you're forbidden to oppose or counter the Assumption of Marry.
Oh well, I guess you'll be smitten now because it also clearly states that you "will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul."
That'll teach you not to post before reading the entire article.
That isn't correct. The Catholic teachings on Mary are based on the Bible, it's just that the Biblical references are somewhat veiled, as is proper in dealing with women generally and with the Queen of Heaven in particular.
In brief, we Christians look to the OT for things that foreshadowed the reality in the NT. For example, Adam foreshadowed Christ. Most relevantly to Marian dogma, Christ was foreshadowed by (1) manna, (2) the priesthood of Aaron, and (3) the Law.
These three things were contained in the ark of the covenant:
Hebrews 9:4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
Thus, since (1) manna, Aaron's rod, and the tablets of the covenant foreshadowed Jesus, (2) these things were all contained in the ark of the covenant, and (3) Jesus was contained in the womb of Mary (Luke 1:44), then it would seem reasonable to hypothesize that Mary was foreshadowed in the OT by the ark of the covenant.
In testing this rather natural hypothesis, Biblical scholars often point to the parallels between 2 Samuel 6 (where King David dances before the ark of the covenant) and Luke Chapter 1 (where, for example, John the Baptist leaps in Mary's womb). Much has been written about this that we can go into if you're interested.
Perhaps the most direct Biblical proof that Mary is the NT embodiment of the ark of the covenant is contained in Revelation, beginning at Revelation 11:19:
And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
I personally think it's rather clearly the case that the Mary is the NT embodiment of the OT ark of the covenant, but it's pointless to argue it since, as I said, this is a very subtle revelation as is befitting the dignity of women in general and the Queen of the Universe in particular.
Anyway, how does all of this relate to the Scriptural basis for the Catholic doctrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary? It's contained in Psalms in a passage that is usually seen by Christians as prophesying the Ascenion of Jesus:
Psalm 132:8 Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength.
Catholics believe that this passage foretold His glorious Ascenion, but also that he would not leave the sacred womb that contained Him, just as the ark contained those things that foreshadowed him, to Earthly corruption. He, therefore, assumed His holy, living Ark into Heaven with Him.
It seems at least like a plausible argument to me. My Protestant brothers and sisters may not believe it, but surely there is enough of a Scriptural foundation for the Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary that we can agree to disagree about it while continuing to recognize each other as Christians.
While they're scratching their heads at that one, I beat a path out of there quickly!
Assumed after her death...orthodox...I didn’t know that.
Interesting.
Kolo, what differences does it make for you to believe in a post-death assumption of Mary?
An intersting side note, the Assumption Parish line is few miles north east of St. Mary Parish in Louisiana.
Why wouldn't someone reading this simply understand it to be speaking of, well, the ARK itself, meaning the ark of the testimony in the tabernacle/temple? Especially given all the corroborating New Testament theology surrounding Jesus as High Priest in heaven, who continually intercedes for His saints by sprinkling His blood upon the mercyseat (which was between the cherubim on the (ta da!) ark?
This verse is an OT prediction of Jesus' return to heaven, AND that of the ark of the testimony (without the disappearance of which, the Indiana Jones franchise would never have gotten anywhere).
(j/k of course)
Completely made up out of whole cloth by the early church. A medieval fantasy. No evidence for it whatsoever. As attractive as the Catholic Church is to me, at times, this is why I remain a Protestant.
Revelation chapter 12.
And Revelation Chapter 12 is not talking about Mary. It is a metaphor for Israel ("the woman clothed with the Sun"). That's what the 12 stars are over her head (the twelve tribes), and Israel brought forth the Messiah.
Don't you think if Mary were assumed bodily in to heaven one of the disciples, or John (whom she was living with in Ephesus) might have thought to jot that down? But the entire "tradition" is late, and comes from the medieval period and it has nothing to do with the early church.
I know. 'cept I'm not a Prod.
What's good enough for other folks aint good enough for me, 'cause I'm RC...
“Kolo, what differences does it make for you to believe in a post-death assumption of Mary?”
Absolutely no difference. The Assumption is not Orthodox dogma; it is a theologoumennon, a pious belief which is in no way mandatory. Personally, I believe she was assumed into heaven after she died but that’s because that’s what the Tradition says. Orthodoxy commemorates the “Dormition (Falling Asleep or Dying)of the Theotokos”, not the Assumption per se. Its the Latins, Padre, who felt compelled, for reasons best known to Pope Pius XII, to declare her assumption a dogma of the Roman Church. The Latins have declared a number of innovative and seemingly unnecessary dogmas since they broke with the rest of The Church in the 11th century, but that of course is another topic.
But the question posed by this thread is whether there is any Biblical basis for Catholic and Orthodox Marian theology, and the point I'm trying to make is that we on the more traditional side of things base Marian dogma on this reading of the Scriptures.
My Protetant brothers and sisters might not agree with the exegesis, my only point is that Marian dogma is in fact based on an interpretation - a rather elegant one, IMHO - of Scripture.
In other words, it simply isn't the case that Marian dogma is based on some un-Apostolic "tradition of men" or on the raw legislative claims of the Popes, it is rather based on a reading of the Scriptures from which all else flows.
To repeat, Christians generally look for OT things that foreshadowed the things that were revealed in the NT. The Israel of the OT wasn't just Israel, it rather foreshadowed the Church, for example. Adam wasn't just the first man, who also foreshadowed Christ, the New Man. Manna wasn't just bread from Heaven, it foreshadowed the Christ in the Sacrament. And so forth.
It seems clear to me that in the same way the Ark foreshadowed Mary, and it follows that OT prophecy such as Psalm 38 refer to Mary when they refer to the Ark. This seems clear to me to be at least one sound way to view the Woman in Revelation 11-12, and the references to the physical transport of the Ark to Heaven in Psalm 38.
I am so glad to know this about orthodoxy.
It gives me hope.
“It gives me hope.”
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