Assumption of Moses, an apocryphal book so called, said to contain an account of the death of Moses and of the translation of his soul to Paradise. Some have supposed that the particulars of the combat be- tween St. Michael and the devil, alluded to in the Epis- tle of Jude (ver. 9), were contained in this book (Moreri, who cites Calmet). — J. A. Fabric. Cod. Pseudep. V. T. i, 839-847. See Moses.
As'sur, a less correct form of two names.
1. (Heb. Ashshur', "iTi'N, Sept. and Apoc. 'Arrtrovp.) An inaccurate method of Anglicizing (Ezra iv, 2 ; Psa. lxxxiii, 8) or Gracizing (2 Esd. ii, 8; Jud. ii, 14; v, 1; vi, 1, 17; vii, 20, 24; xiii, 15; xiv, 3; xv, 6; xvi, 4) the original [see Asshur] word for Assyria (q. v.).
2. (AiTo/'p v. r. 'Affow/S, while other copies omit ; Vulg. Azi.) One of the heads of the "temple ser- vants," whose descendants are said to have returned from Babylon (1 Esdr. v, 31), doubtless a corruption for the H AKin i:(q. v.) of the true text (Ezra ii, 51).
Assurance, in theology, is a firm persuasion of our being in a state if salvation.
(1.) "The doctrine itself has been matter of dispute among divines, and when considered as implying not only that we are now accepted of God through Christ, but that we shall be finally saved, or when it is so taken as to deny a state of salvation to those who arc not so assured as to be free from all doubt, it is
in many views questionable. Assurance of final sal- vation must stand or fall with the doctrine of per- sonal unconditional election, and is chiefly held by divines of the Calvinistic school. The 18th article of the Westminster Confession {Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation) says, 'Although hypocrites, and other unregenerated men, may vainly deceive them- selves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God and estate of salvation ; which hope of theirs shall perish ; yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed. This, certainly, is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion, grounded upon a fallible hope, but an in- fallible assurance of faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God ; which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith but that a true believer may wait Ion:;, and conflict with many difficulties before he can be a partaker of it ; yet, being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he may, without extraordinary revelation, in the right use of ordinary means, attain thereunto. And, therefore, it is the duty of every one to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure, that thereby his heart maj- be en- larged in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this as- surance : so far is it from inclining men to looseness. Truo believers may have the assurance of their salva- tion divers ways shaken, diminished and intermitted ; as by negligence in preserving it ; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the conscience, and grieveth the Spirit ; by some sudden or vehement temptation; by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light. Yet are they never utterly destitute of that need of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincer- ity of heart and conscience of duty out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the mean time, they are supported from utter despair.'
"On the other hand, that nothing is an evidence of a state of present salvation but so entire a persuasion as amounts to assurance in the strongest sense, might be denied upon the ground that degrees of grace, of real saving grace, are undoubtedly mentioned in Scripture. Assurance, however, is spoken of in the New Testa- ment, and stands prominent as one of the leading doc- trines of religious experience. We have 'full assur- ance of understanding;' that is, a perfect knowledge and entire persuasion of the truth of the doctrine of Christ. The 'assurance of faith,' in Hebrews ix, 22, is an entire trust in the sacrifice and priestly office of Christ. The 'assurance of hope,' mentioned in He- brews vi, 11, relates to the heavenly inheritance, and must necessarily imply a full persuasion that we are the children of God, and therefore 'heirs of his glory ;' and from this passage it must certainly be concluded that such an assurance is what every Christian ought to aim at, and that it is attainable. This, however, does not exclude occasional doubt and weakness of faith from the earlier stages of his experience.