Mary lifted into Heaven

[toalisi]

My young niece asked me if it was true that the Virgin Mary was physically lifted into heaven.

I blustered a bit as I was not really sure of the basis of her question.
Is there a reference to this 'event' in the Bible?
Who lifted her for instance?

Any pointers please?

[sandyRoe]

Pope Pius x11 said it, so it must be true.

http://en.wikipedia.o...ki/Assumption_of_Mary

[Mosaic]

I think that the Assumption of the Virgin came about as orthodox Christian belief in the centuries before 1000 AD when the christian church was forming and deciding how to control its members and how to keep people in line.
First start with the notion that Mary had to be a Virgin - you can discuss this for years. But given that she was, and that she was also without sin, and wouldn't in fact say boo to goose, then it also means that she could not be allowed to die. The corruption of death is incompatible with her purity.
So jesus got Scotty to beam her up.
Or something like that - anyhoo the believers had to accept that Mary was taken whole and in the flesh into heaven.
This isn't recorded at or near the time of the original disciples of jesus, but is the kinda nonsense that has been woven into it since then.

[toalisi]

Thanks.

I'll read up on it. Looking at the pictures it seems a lot of people were involved.

[Mosaic]

...but the pictures were all created, along with the story, long after the event they depict.

[jomifl]

It is not enough just to believe that the bible is absolutely true(contradictions notwithstanding). From these biblical 'truths' follows a strange form of logic which when followed leads to many derivative 'truths'.
It is from this kind of thinking that builds assumption on assumption with no vestige of evidence or fact that the whole amazing fantastical edifice of the Roman Catholic church has been built.
As Mosaic said, she had no choice, whatever the facts she had to go to heaven , somehow an example of biblical logic.
Too many people have invested too much of their lives in it for it to be allowed to collapse. It is very similar to a stock exchange 'bubble' but with much more at stake than mere money.

[douglas9401]

I had the radio on in the background yesterday and caught half of a story about the soles of a pair of slippers within the ceiling of a church.
These were supposed to represent, as Mosaic posted, Mary being taken to Heaven body and soul.
What an odd lot religionists are at times.

[jomifl]

Wonderful Douglas, religionists are without doubt the strangest beings on the planet. I think a pair of feet from the ankles down sticking out of the ceiling would be sublimely silly.

[mccfluff]

fantastic mental image though

[sandyRoe]

with dry rot in the ceiling such a sight is not inconceivable

[Mosaic]

Ah but have a heart for all the poor wee girls in the Hispanic world named Assumpta, or Concepcion. Fatima was also a popular catholic girls name between about 1920 and 1950 - based on the Amazing Miracle of the Virgin of Fatima. You could not remain a catholic if you did not accept this as a miracle, back in't day. makes good reading, I won't spoil the endings for yez
http://en.wikipedia.o...r_Lady_of_F%C3%A1tima

[jomifl]

Methinks there is one assumption too many...

[naomi24]

Legend has it that Anne, the reputed mother of Mary, although, as far as we know, not ascending to such great heights as her daughter - well, at least not in a similar fashion - was also a virgin. If you’re really a fan you can visit her house in Jerusalem. Where do they get it from?

[grasscarp]

This is like many religious happenings. If you were a. Not there b. Sounds impossible or c. Recorded after the time (hardly likely to be recorded before or at the time, so what do you want?) then they are impossible. These debates are usually a waste of time. Those who believe do. Those that don't don't.

[anneasquith]

mary^s mother was also a virgin, where does it say that naomi ?

[naomi24]

Anne, as far as I'm aware, 'it' doesn't say that - no more than 'it' says that the Virgin Mary was transported bodily into heaven. As I said, 'where do they get it from?' See ‘Legends’ here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Anne

Grasscarp, these discussions are clearly not seen as a waste of time for those who want to discuss the current topics.

[Khandro]

To answer your question; 'My young niece asked me if it was true that the Virgin Mary was physically lifted into heaven'. I think you can answer no, (if that is what you seem to think). You could perhaps also say that some people believe it to be true, and should she meet someone holding this belief she might ask them for clarification. In other words; say to the child what you believe, speak from your heart, but allow ground for other possibilities.

[Mosaic]

'you can visit (St Ann's) house in jerusalem'...
You sure can. And there are about seven jails where jesus apparently spent his last night...the exact rock where jesus apparently wept tears of blood....two places where jesus was buried
In Bethlehem you can even visit the Milk Grotto where drops of mary's milk fell....

It keeps people in collar so where's the harm......

Oh, sorry. Forgot about all the sectarian killing. My bad.

[Old_Geezer]

You could always let your neice know that some things are just 'fairy stories'.

[chakka35]

It is the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception that decrees that Mary's supposed mother Anna (not Ann or Ann) was also a virgin. Needless to say it is just another of those dogmas that Catholicism invents out of the blue when it feels like it.

We await to know the state of her grandmother's hymen. Maybe the next Pope will deal with that one.

[jomifl]

toalisi, you could have asked her what she thought 'lifted into heaven' meant, whether it was a metaphor or a statement of fact. It is far better to get children too think about things than just ask for peoples opinions which may after all have no value.