+AMDG+
THE MASKED ANGEL:
This refutation is going to operate a little
differently than the previous ones and there are a few reasons for that:
-Unlike the other
articles I talk about, CARM did get a few facts right. Don’t misunderstand:
their overall conclusion is still wrong but this is a case of getting things
wrong because of little errors instead of big errors.
-Unlike the other
articles, CARM asks questions in the middle of the article in question, which I
will gladly answer.
Anyway, here is the article in question: http://carm.org/bodily-assumption-mary
The Bodily Assumption of Mary is
the Roman Catholic teaching that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was bodily assumed
into heaven.
(True, but this is also believed by
Eastern Orthodox and even some branches of Anglicans and Lutherans.)
Some Roman Catholics maintain
that Mary physically died and was then assumed bodily into heaven, while others
teach that she did not experience death at all.
(I don’t know who these other
Catholics are, but when the teaching was declared a dogma, the statement flat
out said she did die a physical death.)
The consensus seems to be that
Mary died, but that her body did not see corruption and was instead assumed
into heaven.
(I don’t see what CARM intends with
this one. Are we supposed to be surprised God did this for somebody in the NT?
It’s not like it hasn’t happened before: Gen. 5:24, Heb. 11:5, 2 Kings 2:11-12;
1 Mac 2:58)
For such a supremely important
dogma of the Church that must be believed to be a faithful Christian, one would
think that it would be found in God's Inspired Word, the Bible. But, it
is not. There isn't a single mention in God's word…So, if it isn't in the
Bible, where did the Roman Catholic church get this teaching?
(Let’s get a few things straight: the
Bible doesn’t have to flat out say something in order for it to be true. For
example, we don’t see the Bible use the terms Holy Trinity or Incarnation but
that doesn’t stop Christians from believing them, does it?”)
The Roman Catholic scholar
Michael O'Carroll explains that Epiphanius (4th Century), a Church Father,
gives the earliest mention of anything concerning the end of Mary's Life when
he says regarding Epiphanius' mention of Mary in A.D. 377,
"In a later passage, he
[Epiphanius] says that she [Mary] may have died and been buried, or been killed
- as a martyr. 'Or she remained alive, since nothing is impossible with God and
he can do whatever he desires; for her end no one knows.'"
In light of this evidence, it is
obvious that the Roman Catholic dogma of the Assumption of Mary has no early
attestation.
(Where does CARM get off saying that? That’s not what Epiphanius
said at all. Here’s what he really said:
“If the Holy
Virgin had died and was buried, her falling asleep would have been surrounded
with honour, death would have found her pure, and her crown would have been a
virginal one...Had she been martyred according to what is written: 'Thine own
soul a sword shall pierce', then she would shine gloriously among the martyrs,
and her holy body would have been declared blessed; for by her, did light come
to the world."
So…how about
it CARM? Why is there no shrine dedicated to where she’s buried?”)
In fact, the first reasonable mention,
according to the Roman Catholic Church, is found in St. John Damascene who
lived in the 700's.
(Nope. Wrong. First mention is in Gregory of
Tours, Eight Books of Miracles, believed to be written between 575 and 593)
This is a blatantly obvious
historical (not to mention biblical) vacuum concerning Mary's Assumption.
Obviously, such a dogma, such an all important essential of the Christian
church, would have been mentioned by at least some of the Church Fathers within
the first few centuries. But, it wasn't. Why? Because it
wasn't taught and it is not a true doctrine of Christianity.
(So the basis for whether it is a true teaching is if it’s mentioned
by any Church Father? By that logic, we shouldn’t believe in what books should
be in the Bible so no Church Father mentions a list.)
Questions
• If
The Bodily Assumption of Mary is a dogma, why is it not found in any of the
early church Father's writings until St. John of Damascene in the 8th Century?
(But it was found in at least seven Church Father works even
earlier than John. One could even argue it was mentioned in Revelation 12:1)
• If
The Bodily Assumption of Mary is a dogma, why does the early church father
Epiphanius say that regarding the end of her earthly life, that no one knows
what happened to Mary?
(That’s not what he said at all.)
Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death, and 1 Cor.
15:56 says that "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is
the law." If Mary was sinless, why did she die?
(to conform in all things to her Son, an example
for us all to follow. Why does CARM find this so hard to understand?)
