“Twist and turns” by “your” telling? No, the “twist and turns” come only when you deny Petrine authority and have every Tom, Dick, Harry, and Jane, the freedom of the wild ass to interpret as and how they choose ala Tammy Faye Baker; Jimmy Swaggart; Rev. Schullers; Rev. Sharptons. Hence you have your First Lutheran Church, First Baptist Church, AME Churches; corner street Foursquare Churches; Rick Warrens, Joel Osteens, First Calvary Church, First Methodist Church, (by the way any Second or Third Calvary Churches etc?). No, we don’t have this theological bedlam and Biblical anarchy.
This kind of “multiple “ interpretation to each his “own” is for low-information Christians, the type who flock to Joel Osteen; the Rev Jeremiah Wight; Billy Graham; David Koresh; where they wave their Bible in hand, quote some scripture from here and there, and so goes this incontinent juvenility. No small wonder that educated Jewish opinion with a rich tradition of scholarly inquiry looks down upon these groups like dumpsters on a street.
But when renowned theologians through the ages of both the Catholic faith, and of those in the Protestant world convert to Catholicism, the illiterate faithful are left dumbfounded. Apparently, somewhere along the 2000-year line, the Catholic Church whose early Fathers painstakingly used the oral tradition, historical authenticity; sacred ritual; and guided by the Holy Spirit put together the books we call the Bible, lost its Petrine authority. (Strange, they did not lose this authority during the decades they chose which writings to discard and which ones to include and which beliefs to accept).
Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses; Pentecostalists; Seventh-Day Adventists; Assemblies of God (whatever that means); all began to sprout out from the ground like wild mushrooms. Most wither away and die but each claims “authority” to interpret Scripture despite the constellation of theologians and scholars who believe this authority is one (Christ) given exclusively to Peter (rock) and his successors to establish one Church and teach one truth until the end of time. Hence the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.
All the deflection in your post yet no infallible proof that the apostles taught about the assumption of Mary and the requirement to believe that.
Christians, it is clear that nobody representing Catholicism can show anywhere in the scripture where Mary was assumed into heaven, not to mention neither is there any Biblical proof of Mary's perpetual virginity, sinlessness (just like Jesus!,)not having a marriage relationship with her husband after the birth of Jesus, that Mary should be prayed to, that she prays for others, etc etc.
Unfortunately Catholics are in the same position as Mormons, whom, if they renounce the rule of having more than one wife, they are thrown out of the LDS belief system.
Likewize, if Catholics deny the teachings by Catholicism about Mary, they are sent to hell. Out of the Catholic belief system, period.
So they defend the Biblical indefensible to their spiritual detriment.
The debate is over—The Bible doesn't speak of it, and the leaders, over many centuries, have been on both sides of the issue.
Psalms 119:113-115I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law. You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word. Depart from me, evildoers, That I may observe the commandments of my God.
1 Kings 18:21
Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”