Epiphanius didn't Fall for the Collyridian Teaching of the Bodily Assumption

Assumptionist argument: Epiphanius claims May was bodily assumed, because he compares her to Elijah, based on Panarion 79. This, they assert, shows that Epiphanius changed his mind between Panarion 78 and Panarion 79, even though the two are chapters of the same tome of the same book.

We respond (as explained in the video linked here):

First, in the immediately preceding chapter, Epiphanius had said no one knows the end of Mary.  Normal rules of hermeneutics dictate against interpreting Panarion 79 in such a way as to contradict Panarion 78.  Instead, the clear statement should drive our understanding, and the less clear statement should be interpreted accordingly.  The Assumptionist argument is based on what is viewed as an implication in Panarion 79, whereas the direct statement in Panarion 78 contradicts that alleged implication. 

Second, just because Epiphanius compares Mary to Elijah, we should not jump to conclusions, because there is an important reason as to why Epiphanius is comparing to Elijah rather than to, for example, Enoch:

In “Against Valesians” (38, but 58 of the series), at 4,8 Epiphanus cites Elijah in the Old Testament, alongside Paul in the New Testament as examples of holy virginity. Notably, this is right after similarly citing John and James, the sons of Zebedee at 4,6 (source, p. 103):

4,5 “And there be eunuchs,” says the Savior, “which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.”6 Who can these be but the noble apostles, and the virgins and monks after them? (6) John and James, the sons of Zebedee, who remained virgin, surely did not cut their members off with their own hands, and did not contract marriage either; they engaged in the struggle in their own hearts, and admirably won the fame of the crown of this contest. (7) And all the millions after them who lived in the world without spouses and won the fame of this contest in monasteries and convents. They had no relations with women, but competed in the most perfect of contests.

4,8 So it is with Elijah in the Old Testament, and with Paul, who says, “To the unmarried I say that it is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot contain, let them marry.”7 (9) Now in what state did he “remain?” For if he had been a eunuch, and his imitators had remained like him in obedience to his “Remain as I”—how could a eunuch marry if he could no longer contain himself, in accordance with “Let them marry and not burn?”8 You see that he is speaking of continence, not of the mutilation of one’s members.

Similarly, in “Against the first type of Origenists, who are shameful as well” (43, but 63 of the series) he again cites Elijah and John:

4,4 Nor did those of them who practiced chastity and virginity debase the contest and make something else of it, as though to evade by trickery the virtuous mode of competing. (5) Elijah too never lightly entered towns or associated with women, but lived in deserts. Elisha, John, and all who [ exhibited ] this great mark of the imitation of the angels, made themselves eunuchs in the right way for the kingdom of heaven’s sake, in accordance with the Lord’s ordinance in the Gospel.

In “Against Origen also called Adamantius” (44, but 64 of the series), Epiphanius encounters the perfect place to cite Mary as an example of someone who was assumed into heaven like Enoch or Elijah, or who bodily ascended into heaven after resurrection, like Jesus.  Nevertheless, she does not come up: 

63,14 [ Anyone with a sound mind can see* ] that, [ just] because there is a spiritual body and an ensouled body, the spiritual body is not one thing and the ensouled body something else; the ensouled and the spiritual body are the same. (15) We have ensouled bodies while we are in the world and doing the corruptible deeds of the flesh; for in the world we are enslaved to the soul in its wicked deeds, as you too have said up to a point. (16) When we are raised, however, there is no more enslavement to the soul but there is a following of the Spirit, for from that time on they have the Earnest as scripture says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit; and if we walk by the Spirit, by mortifying the deeds of the body we shall live.” (17) There will be no more marriages, no more lusts, no more struggles for those who profess continence. There will be no more of the transgressions which run counter to purity, and no more of the sorts of deeds that are done here; as the Lord says, “They that are accounted worthy of that resurrection neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels.”

64,1 And thus Enoch was translated so as not to see death, and was not found. But at his translation he didn’t leave his body, or part of his body, behind. If he had left his body he would have seen death, but being translated with his body, he did not see death. For he is in a living body, and because of his translation his state is spiritual, not ensouled, though, to be sure, he is in a spiritual body.

64,2 The same [ has been said* ] of Elijah, moreover, because he was taken up in a chariot of fire and is still in the flesh—but in a spiritual flesh which will never again need, [ as ] it did when it was in this world to be fed by ravens, drink from the brook of Kerith, and wear a fleece. It is fed by another, spiritual nourishment the supplier of which is God, who knows secrets and has created things unseen; and it has food which is immortal and pure.

64,3 And you see that the ensouled body is the same as the spiritual body, just as our Lord arose from the dead, not by raising a different body, but his own body and not different from his own. But he had changed his own actual body to spiritual fineness and united a spiritual whole, and he entered where doors were barred, (4) as our bodies here cannot because they are gross, and not yet united with spiritual fineness.

64,8 Why, then, did he enter where doors were barred? Why but to prove that the thing they saw was a body, not a spirit—but a spiritual body, not a material one, even though it was accompanied by its soul, Godhead, and entire incarnate humanity. (9) It was the same body, but spiritual; the same body, once gross, now fine; the same body, once crucified, now [ brought to life* ]; the same body, once conquered, now unconquerable. It was united and commingled with his divine nature and never again to be destroyed, but forever abiding, never again to die. (10) For “Christ is risen from the dead, the firstfruits of them that slept.” [ But once risen ] “He dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” 65,1 But also, to show you why Christ is called “the firstfruits of them that slept” even though he was not the first to rise—Lazarus and the widow’s son arose before him by his aid, and others by the aid of Elijah and Elisha. (2) But since they all died again after rising, Christ is the firstfruits of them that slept. For after his resurrection “He dieth no more,” since, through his life and lovingkindness, he is to be our resurrection.

65,3 Now if he is the firstfruits of them that slept, and if his body arose in its entirety together with his Godhead, his human nature [ must appear in its entirety ] after its resurrection with none of it left behind,neither its body nor anything else. “For thou shalt not leave my soul in hades, neither shalt thou give thine holy one to see corruption.” (4) And what is said about the soul in hades means that nothing has been left behind; but “holy one” is said to show that the holy body has not seen corruption, but has risen uncorrupted after the three days, forever united with incorruption.

So, when he says in “Against the Collyridians, who make offerings to Mary” (59, but 79 of the series) that he is comparing Mary to Elijah, John, and Thecla (each of whose lives ended differently, according to Epiphanius), considering the common thread and the contextual evidence: 

4,6 Yes, of course Mary’s body was holy, but she was not God. Yes, the Virgin was indeed a virgin and honored as such, but she was not given us to worship; she worships Him who, though born of her flesh, has come from heaven, from the bosom of his Father. (7) And the Gospel therefore protects us by telling us so on the occasion when the Lord himself said, “Woman, what is between me and thee? Mine hour is not yet come.” [ For ] to make sure that no one would suppose, because of the words, “What is between me and thee?” that the holy Virgin is anything more [than a woman], he called her “Woman” as if by prophecy, because of the schisms and sects that were to appear on earth. Otherwise some might stumble into the nonsense of the sect from excessive awe of the saint.

5,1 For what this sect has to say is complete nonsense and, as it were, an old wives’ tale. Which scripture has spoken of it? Which prophet permitted the worship of a man, let alone a woman? (2) The vessel is choice but a woman, and by nature no different [from others]. Like the bodies of the saints, however, she has been held in honor for her character and understanding. And if I should say anything more in her praise, [she is] like Elijah, who was virgin from his mother’s womb, always remained so, and was taken up and has not seen death. She is like John who leaned on the Lord’s breast, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” She is like St. Thecla; and Mary is still more honored than she, because of the providence vouchsafed her. (3) But Elijah is not to be worshiped, even though he is alive. And John is not to be worshiped, even though by his own prayer— or rather, by receiving the grace from God—he made an awesome thing of his falling asleep. But neither is Thecla worshiped, nor any of the Saints.

For the age-old error of forgetting the living God and worshiping his creatures will not get the better of me. (4) They served and worshiped the creature more than the creator,” and “were made fools.” If it is not his will that angels be worshiped, how much more the woman born of Ann, who was given to Ann by Joachim and granted to her father and mother by promise, after prayer and all diligence? She was surely not born other than normally, but of a man’s seed and a woman’s womb like everyone else. (5) For even though the story and traditions of Mary say that her father Joachim was told in the wilderness, “Your wife has conceived,” it was not because this had come about without conjugal intercourse or a man’s seed. The angel who was sent to him predicted the coming event, so that there would be no doubt. The thing had truly happened, had already been decreed by God, and had been promised to the righteous.

For those unfamiliar with the legend of John's Repose, and though I (not Epiphanius, clearly) think the story is complete nonsense, you can find the orignal? Coptic account at this link (original? Coptic version).  Notice that the story asserts that John maintained his virginity from youth to old age.  He prayed to God and then jumped down into the deep hole the brethren had dug at his command.  When the brethren returned they found his sandal and fresh dirt. (compare the sanitized versions promoted today, which try to suggest that John too was translated: OCA  Antiochian )

Similarly, you can read about Thecla in "The Acts of Paul and Thecla" (fiction, though Epiphanius seems to have believed it or perhaps some less fanciful version of it).  In that story, Thecla decides to break her engagement in order remain a virgin and follow the teachings of Paul.  Thecla gets condemned to be burned to death, but God puts out the fire with rain and hail.  She then accompanies Paul on his journey, where she is condemned to face the wild beasts in the arena, but the lioness just licks her feet.  Then she is again condemned to face the wild beasts.  This time the lioness not only comes to her feet, but fights off a bear and a lion for her, but the lioness is killed by the lion while killing the lion.  She then baptizes herself in a ditch of water and gets enveloped by a cloud of fire, which protects her modesty and wards off the wild animals. Another time, to allow her to escape persecution the rocks opened up and then closed behind her to protect her.  The account calls her "the first martyr of God" although, oddly enough, it only seems to include accounts of her avoiding martyrdom.  The account does acknowledge her eventual death, however.  Moreover, as far as I can tell, there is no tradition of Thecla being assumed, either in the East or the West.

With this background, we can see that Epiphanius is citing Elijah, John, and Thecla (each of whose lives ended differently) because of their holy character exemplified by virginity.

Moreover, while Epiphanius seems to adopt the legends of John and of Thecla, he does not buy the Collyridian Transitus Literature, which he refers to as "complete nonsense" and "as it were, an old wives' tale":

Furthermore, note that the verb for "worship" used by Epiphanius is the more general προσκυνέω.  Epiphanius' position is in direct contradiction to the later position of John of Damascus and the rest of the iconophiles.

Returning to the clear statement of Epiphanius, in “Against Antidicomarians” (58, but 78 of the series), Epiphanius reproduces his “letter to Arabia,” in which he states:

11,3 For I dare not say—though I have my suspicions, I keep silent. Perhaps, just as her death is not to be found, so I may have found some traces of the holy and blessed Virgin. (4) In one passage Simeon says of her, “And a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” And elsewhere the Revelation of John says, “And the dragon hastened after the woman who had born the man child, and she was given the wings of an eagle and was taken to the wilderness, that the dragon might not seize her.”  Perhaps this can be applied to her; I cannot decide for certain, and am not saying that she remained immortal. But neither am I affirming that she died.

11,5 For scripture went beyond man’s understanding and left it in suspense with regard to the precious and choice vessel, so that no one would suspect carnal behavior of her. Whether she died, I don’t know; and [even] if she was buried, she never had carnal relations, perish the thought! (6) Who will choose, from self-inflicted insanity, to cast a blasphemous suspicion [on her], raise his voice, give free rein to his tongue, flap his mouth with evil intent, invent insults instead of hymns and glory, hurl abuse at the holy Virgin, and deny honor to the precious Vessel?

Thus, Epiphanius' position is unmistakable.  There is no reason to set aside this statement for wishful thinking.  

Third, poetic or incomplete comparisons to Elijah are not foreign to the writers of the patristic era:

Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 21, on Athanasius, section 7

7. … nor can I say whether he received the priesthood as the reward of virtue, or to be the fountain and life of the Church. For she, like Ishmael, Genesis 21:19 fainting from her thirst for the truth, needed to be given to drink, or, like Elijah, 1 Kings 17:4 to be refreshed from the brook, when the land was parched by drought; and, when but faintly breathing, to be restored to life and left as a seed to Israel, Isaiah 1:9 that we might not become like Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19:24 whose destruction by the rain of fire and brimstone is only more notorious than their wickedness. …

Jerome’s letter To Eustochium, section 3, he states:

When the hosts of the enemy distress you, when your frame is fevered and your passions roused, when you say in your heart, What shall I do? Elisha's words shall give you your answer, Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 2 Kings 6:16 He shall pray, Lord, open the eyes of your handmaid that she may see. And then when your eyes have been opened you shall see a fiery chariot like Elijah's waiting to carry you to heaven, and shall joyfully sing: Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken and we are escaped.

Aphrahat, Demonstration 6,

Whosoever is invited to the Bridegroom, let him prepare himself. Whosoever has lighted his lamp, let him not suffer it to go out. Whosoever is expectant of the marriage-cry, let him take oil in his vessel. Matthew 25:6 Whosoever is keeper of the door, let him be on the watch for his Master. Whosoever loves virginity, let him become like Elijah. Whosoever takes up the yoke of the Saints, let him sit and be silent. Whosoever loves peace, let him look for his Master as the hope of life.

Chrysostom, Homily 68 on Matthew, section 3:

So that if it seem good, let us leave Adam, and inquire what is the difference between the angels and this company of them who on earth sing and say, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.

And their dress is suitable to their manliness. For not indeed, like those with trailing garments, the enervated and mincing, are they dressed, but like those blessed angels, Elijah, Elisha, John, like the apostles; their garments being made for them, for some of goat's hair, for some of camel's hair, and there are some for whom skins suffice alone, and these long worn.

Pseudo-Clement (before Jerome but not 2nd century), Two Epistles on Virginity, 1st Epistle, Chapter 6

The womb of a holy virgin carried our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and the body which our Lord wore, and in which He carried on the conflict in this world, He put on from a holy virgin. From this, therefore, understand the greatness and dignity of virginity. Do you wish to be a Christian? Imitate Christ in everything. John, the ambassador, he who came before our Lord, he than whom there was not a greater among those born of women, Matthew 11:11 the holy messenger of our Lord, was a virgin. Imitate, therefore, the ambassador of our Lord, and be his follower in every thing. That John, again, who reclined on the bosom of our Lord, and whom He greatly loved, John 21:20 — he, too, was a holy person. For it was not without reason that our Lord loved him. Paul, also, and Barnabas, and Timothy, with all the others, whose names are written in the book of life, Philippians 4:3 — these, I say, all cherished and loved sanctity, and ran in the contest, and finished their course without blemish, as imitators of Christ, and as sons of the living God. Moreover, also, Elijah and Elisha, and many other holy men, we find to have lived a holy and spotless life. If, therefore, you desire to be like these, imitate them with all your power. For the Scripture has said, The elders who are among you, honour; and, seeing their manner of life and conduct, imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7 And again it says, Imitate me, my brethren, as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

The point of all this should be clear.  Epiphanius was in no way withdrawing his previous comments, he was reinforcing them.  References to Elijah are because of his holy character and repute.