Is Mary’s Assumption Able to be Inferred from Scripture Alone?

[Son_of_Niall]

I believe that the Bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be inferred from Scripture based on the consequences of the Immaculate Conception, which is directly taught in its essence (sinlessness) in Luke 1:28 (looked at very closely in the Greek). If the Blessed Virgin Mary was not subject to original sin, then she would not have to suffer bodily corruption, and that is the Assumption: received bodily into heaven and resurrected (whether she died or not, which is not defined), without going through the usual process that we all go through.

Claiming that the Assumption can be deduced from Scripture is a stronger claim, and much more difficult to establish. In any event, we can safely say that “the Assumption is harmonious with the biblical revelation, and various biblical indications suggest it or make it plausible / possible.” All agree that it is not explicitly taught in the Bible and that it can only be indirectly established based on the biblical revelation.

patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2015/08/is-marys-assumption-able-to-be-inferred-from-scripture-alone.html

 

[KathleenGee]

Dogma of Mary is drawn from the ‘senses’ of Scripture…Mary was also known as perpetual virgin in the early church…

Mary was conceived without sin…this debate going on for 1800 years before it was defined as dogma.

Mary did not sin, and thus did not earn the wages of death…but we can say she died a ‘spiritual’ death at the Cross with Christ…

Assumption means, ‘to assume’…we assume Mary was gloriously taken into heaven…whether she died…as Jesus did die…or if she went to asleep or what…we do not know…but assume by faith as she did not sin and was the Mother of Christ, was assumed into heaven.

 

[dronald]

Could someone clarify for me why Mary’s sinlessness would mean she can’t have a physical death if Jesus was able to die physically? Even if only for 3 days?

 

[Bob_Crowley]

It’s not possible to make a cut-and-dried case for Mary’s Assumption from Scripture. I went to mass yesterday for the Assumption of Mary as a day of obligation for Catholics. To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve made the effort, possibly because I’m an ex-Protestant, and tend to weigh up some Catholic traditions in the light of my own experience.

However as the priest was talking, I got this sense he was correct.

I also started thinking about those relative handful of “incorruptible saints”. I’ve attached a link to some photos.

[google.com.au/search?q=photos+of+incorruptible+saints&biw=1440&bih=736&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CB8QsARqFQoTCI2zgujorMcCFWRdpgod-6EJvQ#imgrc=1aD-IhkL_(name removed by moderator)AM%3A](https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...QoTCI2zgujorMcCFWRdpgod-6EJvQ#imgrc=1aD-IhkL_(name removed by moderator)AM%3A)

St. Bernadette Soubirous is probably the most remarkable. I believe there’s a waxy coating as her skin started to darken after washing (after being exhumed from the grave having been buried for 30 years from 1879 to 1909), and there were some minor blemishes. But generally she’s very well preserved.

If God is willing to give a visible testimony to “sinful” saints such as this, then what’s He going to do for the Mother of His Son, “Mary, full of grace”, who in the magnificat, exclaimed, “From now on, all nations will call me blessed.”? Send her to the grave to rot?

Prove it? No. But I think a pretty fair case can be made for it.

 

[KathleenGee]

Exactly.

I also think the sacraments and the study of perfection…ascetism…instruct us how perverting sin is…how we need the sacraments to restore us to God and to the original way the Lord created us.

Again…we must look at the word, ‘assumption’…and Mary likewise was not called to be God…but like a bridge…an intercessor so…in contrast to Christ Who said He would rebuild the Temple in 3 days…this does not apply to the Blessed Virgin.

We can only assume…she was glorified into heaven…did she die, did she fall asleep?..we don’t know. The Orthodox say in their tradition, as Mary died at Ephesus, that those attending, said ‘something shocking happened’. That is all we know.

Also spiritually Mary ‘died’ with Jesus on the Cross…a mother would understand this…or someone who lost a deep and profound relationship with someone they shared the Lord with…friendships in 2 or 3…make the Lord intimately present in these special friendships that accompany one another to heaven.

So the focus is: Mary was glorified into heaven.

About St. Bernadette…I was a DRE and told the parents at Holy Communion prep for their children, that I was going to show them someone who died…their corpus…they were shocked and uncomfortable.

So I showed them a series of pictures of St. Bernadette…before she saw Mary, after she did, one of her when she was 20…so dignified, so beautiful…I saw the Virgin reflected in her countenance…up to the time she died…There was one photo of her after she was exhumed and another, the final of her corpus.

I stated that her corpus is here on earth on linear time…and she is in heaven in eternal time. But the longer we see her…the more beautiful she becomes…grace…full of grace in the making. Her body is revealing in increments…how grace comes to us in increments if we are faithful.

In heaven…we will be all beautiful…full of grace from the Lord…irregardless of our deformities this life.

Jesus was the Living Word in which this world was made. And on His cross, it was said He rises all up to Himself…all including creation…the universe…And with Mary…she was greeted, Mary…full of grace.

When we are given a new heaven and a new earth,…it will be so beautiful…and there won’t be any more natural calamities or forces of nature that kill and harm God’s people and His creation. The universe, the new Jerusalem, the people, the animals…nature itself…all will be of peace and grace.

Mary is the greatest of God’s creation. With her intercession, her work today is to magnify the Lord within us…As we contemplate the mysteries of the rosary…each Hail Mary is the work of Mary magnifying the mystery…of Christ’s Incarnation, His luminous and sorrows, His glory…the rosary is the greatest weapon outside of Mass against evil.

People should likewise get a copy, easy to find on line…of the 15 promises of those who recite the rosary…

So just in these little notes…we can only assume Mary was gloriously raised into heaven.

 

[sheepcat]

Munificentissimus Deus:

the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

The phrase is deliberately ambiguous as to whether or not she died. The older tradition is that she did; not because of sin, but in order to be like Christ in all things.

On the question of Scripture: I think it’s best to say that there’s Scripture to support it. Psalm 45 and Rev 12 suggest it; it also follows from the typology. Christ as the Davidic king would have as queen, not His wife, but His mother.

I think my favorite, though, in view of Mary as ark of the New Covenant, is Psalm 132:8.

Arise, O Lord, and go to thy resting place,
thou and the ark of thy might.

So, Scripture certainly supports the view. As to whether it can be proved from Scripture alone… I’ll leave that to a Protestant to figure out.

 

[KathleenGee]

We won’t know until we are heaven…alot to learn about the mysteries here on earth.