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General Comments
Hey folks,
Two things:
1) For those of you in the Detroit area, I will be speaking on Friday, September 15th, at the St. Paul Street Evangelization annual banquet. The event will be taking place at the Shelby Gardens Banquet Center. Cost is $50/person, which includes dinner and open bar. You can register by calling: 657-777-2963, or online: www.stpaulse.com/gala.
2) Just had something happen to me today that absolutely blew my mind. It involves the evangelization campaign that I mentioned in last week's newsletter. I'll fill you in on it next week, so stay tuned...
Introduction
Okay, this week I'm continuing the series on Mary and the Bible. This segment is on the Assumption.
Hopefully you'll enjoy it...
And, please remember to make use of the social media tabs at the top and bottom of this newsletter to share this on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc., and forward to friends and family as well, to hopefully plant some seeds...
Challenge/Response/Strategy
Mary and the Bible - The Assumption
“Nowhere does the Bible say anything about Mary being assumed body and soul into Heaven. The teaching of the Catholic Church on that is contrary to Scripture!” I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone say that, or something very similar. So, what do you do. Well, I generally handle this objection to the Church’s teaching on the Assumption by asking one question: “Does the Bible somewhere say that Mary was not assumed into Heaven?” The answer, of course, is no - the Bible nowhere says that Mary was not assumed into Heaven.
So then I ask, “Well, if the Bible doesn’t say she wasn’t assumed into Heaven, then why can’t I believe she was?” That will often stop someone in their tracks. But, don't think the issue has been settled. One argument I’ve received in response uses 1 Corinthians 15:22-23. In 1 Cor 15:22-23 it says, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But, each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ.” “See,” I’ve been told, “no one is made alive - rises from the dead - until the Second Coming of Christ, which means Mary could not have been assumed into Heaven.”
Oh, really? Well, let’s look and see what the Bible has to say about that. (And, let me just say, folks who cite 1 Cor 15 in regard to the Assumption of Mary, seem to forget all about that same verse when it comes to their beliefs about the Rapture, which involves a resurrection of the dead - 1 Thess 4:16.)
In Genesis 5:21-24, and Hebrews 11:5, we read about Enoch being taken by God and that he “walked with” God. And, in 2 Kings 2:11, Elijah is taken up to Heaven in a fiery chariot. So it seems they were both assumed, in some manner or the other, body and soul, into Heaven. Which mean the Assumption of Mary, as a possibility, is not counter to Scripture. But, someone might argue that neither Enoch nor Elijah died and, therefore, the passage from 1 Corinthians about being made alive, or rising from the dead, doesn’t apply to them. Well, that’s fine. But, I just want to first establish the principle that someone being assumed into Heaven, body and soul, is not contrary to Scripture. And I think the examples of Enoch and Elijah provide evidence for that.
Next, let’s look at Mt 27:52, this was after the death of Jesus on the Cross, “…the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep [they were dead!] were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” Many of the bodies of saints who had “fallen asleep” were “raised.” Doesn’t look like they waited for Jesus to return.
And, look at Rev 11:7-12 - this is the clincher - “And when they [two witnesses from God, sometime in the future] have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city…But, after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from Heaven saying to them, ‘Come up hither!’ And, in the sight of their foes, they went up to Heaven in a cloud.” These two witnesses sent by God, were assumed – body and soul – into Heaven before the return of Christ. The principle of the Assumption is not contrary to Scripture. If it can be done for them, why not for Mary?
But, I’ve been told, the Bible is silent on the matter so we can’t believe it if it’s not in the Bible. To which I will ask, “Do you have altar calls in your church?” Usually, the answer is yes. If it is, I point out that the Bible says nothing at all about altar calls, yet they believe that. I will also ask if they believe that contraception is okay. Again, the answer is usually yes. To which I will point out that nowhere is contraception approved of in the Bible and, in fact, there is direct evidence to make the argument that the Word of God condemns contraception.
What I’m doing is pointing out the double standard they’re using. They believe and practice a number of things that are not found in the Bible, so it is a bit hypocritical to say that Catholics are wrong to believe in something that the Bible is silent on. But, here’s the thing - is the Bible really silent on the Assumption of Mary? I don’t think so.
In the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, we see a woman who has a head and feet, and she is said to be “clothed with the sun,” (verse 1) - all of which means she has a body. And who is this woman? Well, the Word of God tells us that this woman is the one who gives birth to the male child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron (verse 5). That male child is, of course, Jesus Christ (see Rev 19:15-16). So, according to the Bible, there is a woman, in Heaven, with a body as well as a soul, and this woman is the one who gave birth to Jesus Christ. Hmmm...
So, to wrap it up: If the Bible nowhere says that Mary was not assumed into Heaven, and if the assumption of a person body and soul into Heaven is in no way contrary to the Scriptures (which is shown by the examples mentioned above), and if there is some very strong, albeit not quite direct, evidence from Scripture that Mary is indeed in Heaven (Rev 12), and there is an ancient Christian tradition that says she was assumed into Heaven, then why can't Catholics believe it? And, by what authority does someone say that Catholics are wrong to believe it?
Closing Comments
I hope all of you have a great week. Please share this with friends and on social media...thanks!
Donations
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TheChurchMilitant: Sometimes anti-social, but always anti-fascist since 2005.
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