Evidence Against The Assumption Of Mary In Acacius And Other Sources

I discussed Jerome's Letter 119 in my last post. I was focused on the subject of eternal security, but the letter also has some significant material on another topic, including in the same section of the letter (7). So, what I said in my last post regarding whether Jerome was presenting his own views in that section of the letter is relevant to what I'm addressing in this post as well. For reasons explained in my last post, I think section 7 of the letter is presenting the views of Acacius of Caesarea, not Jerome. But either way, here's the relevant portion of that section of the letter:

"And thus it can be the case that one who believes in Christ does not die; and even if he be dead, he will live forever. Now it is manifest that in terms of physical death this has happened to no one save Enoch and Elijah." (in Thomas Scheck, trans., St. Jerome: Exegetical Epistles, Volume 2 [Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University Of America Press, 2024], 110)

As I've explained in many previous posts, there's a significant absence of references to Mary in early sources who discuss subjects relevant to whether she was assumed to heaven at the end of her life (her not being mentioned when discussing individuals who never died, individuals who were resurrected, individuals who were assumed to heaven, etc.). See, for example, my posts here and here. I've discussed such material in Jerome before. So, for those who think section 7 of his Letter 119 represents his views, what I've quoted above would add further weight to that case. But it seems more likely that Letter 119:7 is expressing the views of Acacius, so Acacius can be added to the list of individuals who made such comments relevant to an assumption of Mary.

Notice a few things about what Acacius said. First, he doesn't think Mary was taken up to heaven without dying. Only a minority of those who believe in an assumption of Mary think she didn't die, but since some do hold that view, it's worth noting that Acacius is yet another witness against that position. Secondly, notice that he says that his conclusion is "manifest". He either doesn't anticipate any controversy over the matter or doesn't think any challenge to his position would have much force to it. Third, this is another example of how often such unusual events, like those in the lives of Enoch and Elijah, tend to get mentioned. There are so many contexts in which such events can potentially be brought up, and they often do get brought up. That tendency makes the lack of early references to an assumption of Mary problematic for those who believe in her assumption.

Since people often misunderstand the nature of the argument I'm making, I want to reiterate some points I've made before. I'm not denying that an assumption of Mary involving her dying first can be reconciled with what Acacius said about nobody other than Enoch and Elijah not dying. I'm making a cumulative case. You can address one issue at one point and another issue at another point. You don't have to address everything at once. When Roman Catholics, for example, allow for Mary to have either died or not died, that situation calls for addressing both scenarios. Critics of Mary's assumption can focus on addressing one scenario at one point and another scenario at another point. Furthermore, comments like those of Acacius have some relevance to both scenarios, as my third point above illustrates, even if the overall relevance of those comments leans more toward one scenario than the other.

In fact, this recent edition of Jerome's letters also provides other examples of individuals like Enoch and Elijah being mentioned in relevant ways without any mention of Mary. We even see it elsewhere in the same letter I've been discussing. In section 2, Jerome quotes Theodore of Heraclea:

"For having surmounted the necessity of death, Enoch and Elijah were transferred, just as they were, in their bodies, from an earthly abode to the heavenly kingdom." (ibid., 100)

In section 10 of the letter, Paul's experience of being taken up to heaven, in 2 Corinthians 12, is cited (ibid., 118-19). Again, notice how examples like these keep getting mentioned by so many sources in so many contexts while there's such a widespread lack of reference to Mary's alleged assumption.

In this post, I've just given a few examples of this sort of material from one letter written by one source (Jerome). When you combine all of the relevant evidence from all of the sources, the cumulative effect is highly significant.