Kanjeng Ratu Moksa 23 - Ancient Traditions - Assumptio Beatae Mariae Virginis in Coelum - 圣母蒙召升天

Kanjeng Ratu Moksa 23 - Ancient Traditions - Assumptio Beatae Mariae Virginis in Coelum - 圣母蒙召升天

The Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary's Dormition and Assumption
By Stephen J. Shoemaker

Stephen J. Shoemaker, Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary's Dormition and Assumption (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, 2006). A complete translation of this earliest text appears at pp. 290–350

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Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary's Dormition and Assumption

Stephen J. Shoemaker, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Oregon

Oxford Early Christian Studies

478 pages | 6 figures | 216x138mm

978-0-19-921074-9 | Paperback | 19 October 2006

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Abstract: The ancient Dormition and Assumption traditions, a remarkably diverse collection of narratives recounting the end of the Virgin Mary's life, first emerge into historical view from an uncertain past during the fifth and sixth centuries. Initially appearing in Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, these legends spread rapidly throughout the Christian world, resulting in over 60 different narratives from before the tenth century preserved in nine ancient languages. This study presents a detailed analysis of the earliest traditions of Mary's death, including the evidence of the earliest Marian liturgical traditions and related archaeological evidence as well as the numerous narrative sources. Most of the early narratives belong to one of several distinctive literary families, whose members bear evidence of close textual relations. Many previous scholars have attempted to arrange the different narrative types in a developmental typology, according to which the story of Mary's death was transformed to reflect various developments in early Christian Mariology. Nevertheless, evidence to support these theories is wanting, and the present state of our knowledge suggests that the narrative diversity of the early Dormition traditions arose from several independent ‘origins’ rather than through ordered evolution from a single original type. Likewise, scholars have often asserted a connection between the origin of the Dormition traditions and resistance to the council of Chalcedon, but the traditions themselves make this an extremely unlikely proposal. While most of the traditions cannot be dated much before the fifth century, a few of the narratives were almost certainly in composed by the third century, if not even earlier. These narratives in particular bear evidence of contact with gnostic Christianity. Several of the most important narratives are translated in appendices, most appearing in English for the first time.

http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/oso/public/content/religion/9780199250752/toc.html

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Table of Contents

Earliest Dormition Traditions Palestinian Cult of the Virgin Rival Traditions of Mary's Death Prehistory and Origins of the Dormition Traditions Appendices A. The Ethiopic Liber Requiei B. Earliest Greek Dormition Narrative C. Fifth-Century Syriac Fragments D. The Ethiopic 'Six Books' E. (Ps.-) Evodius of Rome F. Jacob of Serug G. Palm Narrative Parallels

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CONTENTS
List of Figures	xv
Abbreviations	xvi
Introduction	1
1. The Earliest Dormition Traditions: Their Nature and Shape	9
The Ancient Traditions of Mary’s Dormition and Assumption	25
Conclusions	76
2. The Ancient Palestinian Cult of the Virgin and the Early Dormition Traditions	78
The Ancient Church of the Kathisma and the Origins of the Palestinian Cult of the Virgin	81
The Church of Mary in the Valley of Josaphat and the Tomb of the Virgin	98
Christian Eulogiai and the Palestinian Cult of the Virgin	107
The Origins, Shape, and Development of Marian Cult in Late Ancient Jerusalem	115
The Emergence of a Stational Marian Liturgy in Early Medieval Jerusalem	132
Conclusions	140
3. Rival Traditions of Mary’s Death: The Independent Origins of the Ancient Dormition Traditions	142
Against the Priority of an Assumptionless Tradition: The Obsequies, the Liber Requiei, and the Palm Traditions	146
Topography, Liturgy, and the Question of Origins	168
A Garden Closed and Reopened: Late Ancient Paradise Traditions as Evidence of Independent Origins	179
Conclusions	203
4. The Prehistory and Origins of the Dormition and Assumption Traditions	205
Early Christian Heterodoxy and the Prehistory of the Dormition Traditions	209
Resistance to Chalcedon and the Origin of the Dormition Traditions	256
Conclusions	278
Conclusion	280
Appendices: Select Translations of Early Dormition Narratives
A. The Ethiopic Liber Requiei	290
B. The Earliest Greek Dormition Narrative	351
C. Fifth-Century Syriac Palimpsest Fragments of the ‘Six Books’	370
D. The Ethiopic Six Books	375
E. The Sahidic Coptic Homily on the Dormition Attributed to Evodius of Rome	397
F. Jacob of Serug, Homily on the Dormition	408
G. Parallels to the Liber Requiei from the Early Palm Narratives	415
Bibliography	419
Index	454

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