Assumption

Today, August 15, is the day of the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin. The feast was first celebrated in the 6th Century as the feast of the Dormition (Falling Asleep) and was defined as an article of faith and a day of obligation by Pope Pius XII in 1950 in his encyclical, Munificentissimus Deus. It is celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Anglican Communion.

The dogma of the Assumption says that at her death, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was assumed body and soul directly into Heaven, with no need to wait on the Resurrection. Since she was God's privileged Ark, the mother of God, and is held to have been utterly sinless, and since the corruption of the grave is a punishment for original sin, she could not have decayed in the ground.

The Roman Catholic Church cites as scriptural basis for this doctrine the following verses: 2 Kings 1:11, Genesis 5:24, Hebrews 11:5, John 14:3, Psalm 132:8, and Revelation 12:1-5. An interesting point to Protestants is that Mary's death is not mentioned in the Bible at all. Many of the references which Catholics say speak of Mary are interpreted by Protestants as references to the Church or to Israel.

Protestants do not accept the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary and do not believe that there is any scriptural basis for doing so. We believe that this doctrine is a logical sequela of the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, both of which we believe to be unscriptural. We believe that all three come from a very forced, convoluted, "twisty-turny" interpretation of scripture used to justify non-blblical man-made doctrines. This is eisogesis (forcing ideas from outside into the Bible) instead of exogesis (deriving doctrines from and consistent with the totality of scripture).

For further reading:
"The Biblical Basis for Praying to Mary and for Catholic Teachings on Mary," http://www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com/Articles/the_bible_on_the_blessed_virgin_Mary.pdf