Mary's Bodily Assumption

by Matthew Levering

In Mary’s Bodily Assumption , Matthew Levering presents a contemporary explanation and defense of the Catholic doctrine of Mary’s bodily Assumption. He How does the Church justify a doctrine that does not have explicit biblical or first-century historical evidence to support it? With the goal of exploring this question more deeply, he divides his discussion into two sections, one historical and the other systematic. Levering’s historical section aims to retrieve the rich Mariological doctrine of the mid-twentieth century. He introduces the development of Mariology in Catholic Magisterial documents, focusing on Pope Pius XII’s encyclical Munificentissimus Deus of 1950, in which the bodily Assumption of Mary was dogmatically defined, and two later Magisterial documents, Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium and Pope John Paul II’s Redemptoris Mater . Levering addresses the work of the neo-scholastic theologians Joseph Duhr, Aloïs Janssens, and Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange before turning to the great theologians of the nouvelle théologie ―Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Louis Bouyer, Joseph Ratzinger―and their emphasis on biblical typology. Using John Henry Newman as a guide, Levering organizes his systematic section by the three pillars of the doctrine on which Mary’s Assumption biblical typology, the Church as authoritative interpreter of divine revelation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the fittingness of Mary’s Assumption in relation to the other mysteries of faith. Levering’s ecumenical contribution is a significant engagement with Protestant biblical scholars and theologians; it is also a reclamation of Mariology as a central topic in Catholic theology.

Genres: Theology, Religion

280 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2014

About the author

Matthew Levering (PhD, Boston College) is professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Ezra & Nehemiah in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible. He is also coauthor of Holy People, Holy Land and Knowing the Love of Christ.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me begin by stating that I was an unbeliever of Mary's bodily assumption before I read this work and I remain an unbeliever after reading what is, in my opinion, a very solid defense of the dogma in this book. But with the typological, biblical and historical evidence given here, I still remain unconvinced that this particular doctrine ought to be considered Christian dogma. However, I commend this book to Protestants who think that this dogma only comes from some wacky latter patristic tradition. I was quite surprised by the biblical and typological arguments used in this work to argue his thesis, that the assumption of Mary is proven by the Scriptures typologically first of all and traditionally secondly. Levering dialogued with Protestants like Richard Hays, Peter Enns, and Peter Leithart on the issue of typological interpretation for the dogma of Mary's bodily assumption, which was quite helpful.

Even so, I remain unconvinced. I'm thankful for Levering, holding out the olive branch to us, not only from another tradition, but also desiring to delve into our traditions. I'm looking forward to reading more from him because he actually seems interested to find a common and visible unity among orthodox Christian traditions.