Ancient sermons attributed to St. Augustine, the influential theologian of the 4th and 5th centuries, have been discovered in a Polish library, providing new insights into a perplexing biblical event. The 12th-century Latin texts focus on the story of King Saul's visit to the Witch of Endor, as recorded in 1 Samuel 28, a passage that has long puzzled scholars.
The discovered sermons, identified by Professor Christian Tornau of the University of Würzburg, grapple with the question of whether the spirit of the prophet Samuel, who appears to Saul, was genuinely summoned by the medium or if it was a divine allowance. St. Augustine, in these newly found writings, ultimately argues that the witch held no power to command the dead. He posited that if Samuel did appear, it was because God permitted it, rather than through the medium's magical abilities.
This particular biblical episode has troubled theologians for centuries, as it appears to suggest that a medium could successfully conjure a deceased prophet. The texts reveal St. Augustine's consideration of whether the apparition was a true manifestation of Samuel or a supernatural illusion.
St. Augustine, who lived from 354 to 430 AD, was a pivotal figure in Western Christianity. His early life was marked by intellectual exploration and a rejection of Christianity before his conversion and baptism in Milan in 387 AD. The newly discovered sermons were identified in 2024 among six sermons by the saint, two of which were previously unknown.
Professor Tornau explained that the first sermon was delivered on a Sunday, addressing the theological question of suffering and offering interpretations. The subsequent sermon, given on the following Wednesday, weighed the different possibilities. This approach, where Augustine presented various interpretations without a definitive conclusion, allowing the audience to form their own opinions, is characteristic of his known didactic and rhetorical style.
The authenticity of the texts was confirmed by Tornau and Dr. Clemens Weidmann, along with a team of 20 other Latin scholars. While instances of forged writings attributed to St. Augustine have occurred in the past, the style, humor, and content of these sermons strongly indicate they are genuine works by the saint.
The manuscript itself is unusual for its 12th-century creation date, as copies of such texts typically date to the 8th or 9th centuries. Researchers believe these sermons survived because a medieval scribe copied them from an older, now lost, manuscript. An old monastery catalog mentioned a text with the same headings and content sequence, suggesting it might have served as the model for the surviving copy. However, the full history of the original library collection is uncertain, as it was largely destroyed during the Thirty Years' War.