Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN

Over 50 apocrypha and homilies from before the 10th century record in nine ancient languages either the Virgin’s dormition (“falling asleep”) and bodily assumption (“being taken up”) into heaven or her dormition without an assumption. There is, however, no reliable evidence of either doctrine before the late 5th century, at which point several witnesses, including the earliest apocryphon and homily, attest belief in the “rival” doctrines of bodily assumption and dormition without assumption, respectively. The real flowering of this tradition occurs primarily in the 6th century, during which time there is a proliferation of narratives revising the earlier texts and purging them of heterodoxy. The story’s main events take place in Jerusalem (with the occasional inclusion of a trip to Bethlehem), and include the miraculous reunion of the Apostles and the return of Christ to receive his mother’s soul as it leaves her body. Only certain texts continue with an account of the Virgin’s resurrection and assumption, but all are characterized by a hostility to Judaism and frequent attacks on the Jewish leaders who, among other things, attempt to burn the Virgin’s body. A counter-tradition locating the end of the Virgin’s life in Ephesus develops at a later time, primarily in the medieval Syriac church.

Bibliography. W. J. Burghardt, The Testimony of the Patristic Age Concerning Mary’s Death (Westminster, Md., 1957).

Stephen J. Shoemaker

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)