I think one of the difficulties of this dogma is that it regards a historical fact. Even people who have no objection to believing that it happened still find it strange that it would be put on the same level as the historical facts of Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension. If I at the end of the world we were informed that the Assumption did not actually happen, would that call into question our faith? The idea of Christianity without a historical Resurrection is an absurdity, foolishness, but Christianity without the Assumption does not seem to be impossible. If it happened, it happened, if not, then it didn't.
So if it is a declared dogma, that must mean that it is a necessary logical consequence of the Resurrection, that it is not even consistent to imagine the possibility that Mary was not assumed. If Jesus rose from the dead, then his mother must have been assumed into heaven. The necessary connection is not obvious, but the dogma is a declaration of this connection. Denying the Assumption means denying the Resurrection, just as denying that 7*2=14 means denying that 7+7=14.
For historical evidence, the lack of a burial place of Mary is very compelling. We know that devotion to her was quite strong in Ephesus in the early Church. Certainly her grave, if she had one, would be a place of veneration. Even if they forgot the true grave, pilgrims to Ephesus who were looking for her grave in 430 would have been led somewhere by unscrupulous tour guides. I do not know of any location that even purports to be her grave, which is a strong argument that the average Christian knew not to look for it.
I have always thought she didn't die, because Christians say death is when the soul leaves the body. I guess her soul could have stood off to the side for a bit, between dying and having her body assumed. But if she was just asleep strange (if you believe the Transitus Mariae) that she was asleep for days before being assumed. Must have been a good sleep!
2nd, I love the historic dispute about where she was after Pentecost. Did she stay in Jerusalem like Transitus Mariae says? did she go to Ephesus (which I think was later in history)?
I think one of the difficulties of this dogma is that it regards a historical fact. Even people who have no objection to believing that it happened still find it strange that it would be put on the same level as the historical facts of Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension. If I at the end of the world we were informed that the Assumption did not actually happen, would that call into question our faith? The idea of Christianity without a historical Resurrection is an absurdity, foolishness, but Christianity without the Assumption does not seem to be impossible. If it happened, it happened, if not, then it didn't.
So if it is a declared dogma, that must mean that it is a necessary logical consequence of the Resurrection, that it is not even consistent to imagine the possibility that Mary was not assumed. If Jesus rose from the dead, then his mother must have been assumed into heaven. The necessary connection is not obvious, but the dogma is a declaration of this connection. Denying the Assumption means denying the Resurrection, just as denying that 7*2=14 means denying that 7+7=14.
For historical evidence, the lack of a burial place of Mary is very compelling. We know that devotion to her was quite strong in Ephesus in the early Church. Certainly her grave, if she had one, would be a place of veneration. Even if they forgot the true grave, pilgrims to Ephesus who were looking for her grave in 430 would have been led somewhere by unscrupulous tour guides. I do not know of any location that even purports to be her grave, which is a strong argument that the average Christian knew not to look for it.
2 things:
I have always thought she didn't die, because Christians say death is when the soul leaves the body. I guess her soul could have stood off to the side for a bit, between dying and having her body assumed. But if she was just asleep strange (if you believe the Transitus Mariae) that she was asleep for days before being assumed. Must have been a good sleep!
2nd, I love the historic dispute about where she was after Pentecost. Did she stay in Jerusalem like Transitus Mariae says? did she go to Ephesus (which I think was later in history)?