What is the Assumption of Mary?
The Assumption is the teaching that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken up into heaven body and soul rather than dying and being buried like everyone else. The questions it raises are simple ones: does the Bible say this, where did the idea come from, and what does it do to the place of Christ?
What the Teaching Claims
The doctrine has a fixed date in church history, and a companion doctrine alongside it. One writer sets out both as they were formally defined:
Fritz RidenourOther doctrines that grew out of tradition include the Immaculate Conception (she was conceived without sin and lived a sinless life), proclaimed dogma in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, and the doctrine of the Assumption (that she was taken up body and soul directly to heaven), proclaimed dogma in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.
The two claims are linked by a chain of reasoning, and one commentator traces the links plainly:
A. J. PollockTo be consistent, if Romanists believe the Virgin was sinless, then death could not have been her portion, for "the wages of sin is death." So they claim that she miraculously ascended to Heaven without dying on the 15th August, A.D. 45. There is not a single line of Scripture for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, nor for her translation to Heaven without dying.
The Silence of the New Testament
If such an event happened in AD 45, the men who wrote afterwards were remarkably quiet about it — and one of them had a personal reason to speak:
A. J. PollockAll the Pauline epistles were written well after A.D. 45, but there is no mention of these notions. The Gospel of John was written long after the Pauline epistles, moreover it was to the Apostle John our Lord tenderly committed His mother according to the flesh, and yet he never said a word about the immaculate conception, or the miraculous flight to Heaven without dying.
Mary's Own Confession
Since the Assumption rests on the belief that Mary was sinless, it is worth hearing how Mary spoke of herself. Her song of praise contains one word that settles the matter:
F. B. HoleWe must not omit to notice that Mary spoke of "God my Savior." Though the mother of our Savior, she herself found her Savior in God.
The conclusion follows without strain: "if the Virgin, 'blessed among women,' had a Savior, she must have needed a Savior. And if she needed a Savior, she must have been a sinner, like every member of the fallen human race" (A. J. Pollock).
The Last Time Scripture Mentions Her
The Bible does record a final glimpse of Mary, and it is not a departure into the sky. It is a prayer meeting in Jerusalem:
W. W. FeredayThis is the last notice of Mary in Holy Scripture. After the beginning of Christianity on the day of Pentecost we never hear of her. So our last acquaintance with her is not as being prayed to, as if she had some special influence with heaven, but as one who prays herself among other praying ones. Let this fact be carefully noted. It may save us from superstitious notions about this highly favoured woman.
Tradition Set Beside Scripture
The Assumption was never drawn from a text; it came down as tradition and was later declared binding. That method itself is the deeper issue:
William KellyThe theory of a dual rule of faith betrays its real character as a rival of scripture, and a rebel against God whose glory admits of no co-ordinate authority, such as its tradition cannot but assume to be. For this supposes defect in scripture, and claims, though human, nothing less than divine honour.
Where It Leads
Once Mary is lifted out of the ranks of saved sinners, she does not stay still. The titles keep climbing, and something is displaced:
Frederick W. GrantShe has taken the grace of His incarnation to subject Him to His human mother; or if she remembers His divine title, it is to raise Mary into the "Mother of God." Rome systematically degrades Him among a crowd of saintly mediators and intercessors with God, all more accessible than Himself, and foremost among them is this "queen of heaven" with her woman's heart, more tender than His!
What Scripture Promises Instead
The Bible does teach a bodily glory for believers — but not yet, and not for one person only:
H. H. SnellThough they are absent from the body and present with the Lord, their bodies are in the grave. That they are with the Lord, and enjoying full happiness as far as they are capable, there can be no doubt; but they are waiting for the coming of the Lord, when they will know the redemption of their bodies too.
Summary
- Claim. The Assumption says Mary was taken to heaven body and soul; it was declared official teaching in 1950, following the 1854 declaration that she was conceived and lived sinless.
- Chain. The two ideas hold together by logic, not by text: if she never sinned, she could not die, since "the wages of sin is death."
- Silence. Paul wrote long after the supposed date and never mentions it; John, the man entrusted with Mary's care, never said a word about it.
- Confession. Mary called God "my Savior" — the mother of the Savior looking for a Savior herself, which is the language of a saved sinner.
- Hope. Scripture's last sight of her is praying with others, and its promise for every believer is a body raised at Christ's coming — a hope shared, not a privilege for one.