SaraJohnson and Tarap:
The Assumption has nothing to do with making Mary
equal to God. Tarap is correct, the Assumption relates to what God’s Grace has done to Mary.
The Assumption therefore is rooted in Christological theology, all of it, both Incarnation and passion, death and resurrection, ascension into heaven. It also relates to Catholic soteriology, which is not only grounded in the paschal mystery [passion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ], is also is grounded in the orthodox doctrine of Christ’s Incarnation.
Thomas Howard, in Evangelical is Not Enough (p. 36) writes: “The Incarnation took all that properly belongs to our humanity and delivered it back to us, redeemed. All of our inclinations and appetites and capacities and yearnings and proclivities are purified and gathered up and glorified by Christ.”
So when Catholics read we are to “become partakes of the divine nature (cf 2 Peter 4), this speaks of the human nature being transformed and glorified by Christ. Other passages speak of this as well. For example, St. Paul writes: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself” (c.f. Phil 3:20-21).
Similar to St. Paul and St. Peter, St. John makes a reference to being like God. For example, St. John writes: “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure as he is pure” (c.f. 1 John 3:2-3).
So I don’t know what you learned in the Catholic Church growing up. Perhaps you learned it wrong, or don’t remember or perhaps, and this is a likely case given that religous education in the Catholic Church in the 70’s and 80’s “stunk”, you were not taught orthodox Catholic Doctrine.
Thanks be to God that Pope John Paul II commissioned the New Catechism, which was published in 1992 and Pope Benedict is now Pope as catecheses is getting back on track.
They were taught what passed as Catholic doctrine by religious who were unfaithful to Tradition. There remain many priests who are hostile to the catechism and disregard what it teaches. Yet they dissemble enough in order to to stay in their place. I am reminded of the semi-Arians of the 4th century, who weaved back and forth, first toward the Arian Party and then toward the Catholic Party depending on who had the power.