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History of the Doctrine of the Assumption

History of the Doctrine of the Assumption

Author: Dr. Robert Schihl

The constant faith (tradition, paradosis) of the Church affirms the belief in the Assumption of Mary.

From the 5th Century:

  • the Feast of the Assumption of Mary was celebrated in Syria;
The 5th and 6th Century:
  • the Apocryphal Books were testimony of a certain christian sense of the abhorency felt that the body of the Mother of God should lie in a sepulchre;
The 6th Century:
  • the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Jerusalem (and perhaps even in Alexandria);
From the 7th Century:
  • clear and explicit testimony was given on the Assumption of Mary in the Eastern Church; The same testimony is clear also in the Western Church (Gregory, Tours, 538-594);
In the 9th Century:
  • the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Spain;
From the 10th - 12th Century:
  • no dispute whatsoever in the Western Church; there was dispute over the false epistles of Jerome on the subject;
In the 12th Century:
  • the Feast of the Assumption was celebrated in the city of Rome, and in France;
From the 13th to present:
  • certain and undisputed faith in the Assumption of Mary in the universal Church;
1950, Pope Pius XII, declared infallibly, ex cathedra:
  • "Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory."

From Chap. 7 of A Biblical Apologetic of the Catholic Faith, by Dr. Robert Schihl, Professor at Regent University. It appears here for for personal use only and may not be reproduced for any other use without permission of the author.