One of Bible’s most chilling mysteries solved by hidden texts | History | News

Two previously unknown sermons written by St. Augustine have been uncovered in an ancient manuscript, providing a new perspective on one of the Bible’s most confusing and controversial stories.

The texts, found in a manuscript kept in a library in Poland, were written by an influential theologian whose teachings helped shape Western Christianity. St. Augustine is considered one of the most important Christian thinkers after the Apostle Paul.

The newly identified sermons examine the story of King Saul and the Witch of Endor, told in 1 Samuel 28, in which the dead prophet Samuel appears and predicts Saul’s death.

This passage has sparked debate among Jewish and Christian scholars for centuries because it appears to show a medium successfully summoning a dead prophet.

In the sermons, St. Augustine wrestles with this question, considering whether Saul actually encountered Samuel or whether this figure was a supernatural deception.

He eventually concluded that the Witch of Endor had no power over the dead. Augustine argued that if Samuel appeared, it could only have happened because God allowed it to happen, rather than any magical ability of the medium.

Professor Christian Tornau, a Latin scholar at the University of Würzburg, said: “The first was preached at Sunday service and ended with a theodicy question and comments.

“It was not until the second sermon the following Wednesday that the options were weighed.”

Augustine lived between 354 AD and 430 AD. He was born in North Africa to a pagan father and a devout Christian mother and spent much of his life exploring different philosophical and religious traditions.

He adopted a hedonistic lifestyle and followed Manichaeism before converting to Christianity, later turning to Neo-Platonism in search of answers.

After experiencing a deep spiritual crisis, he became a Christian and was baptized in Milan in 387.

The discovery was made in 2024 after Professor Tornau was asked to decipher six sermons attributed to Augustine. During the study, he realized that two of the texts had never been described before.

Both of the newly discovered sermons focused on the Old Testament account of Saul’s encounter with the Witch of Endor.

Explaining the biblical story, Tornau said: “Shortly before the battle against the Philistines, Saul believes himself to be in a hopeless situation. God does not listen to his prayers. He turns into a witch.”

At Saul’s request, the woman summons the spirit of the prophet Samuel, who predicted that the king would die in battle. According to the Bible, Samuel had previously appointed both Saul and David as kings of Israel upon God’s instruction.

This explanation has long raised difficult theological questions about whether a witch could truly summon a prophet from the dead.

Latin scholars have also asked: “How could an omnipotent God allow this, or is he not truly omnipotent?”

Theologians have debated for generations whether this apparition was a trick, a demonic illusion, or a literal appearance of Samuel that God allowed as a warning to Saul.

Scholars have noted that Augustine did not provide a definitive interpretation of his congregation. Instead, after presenting the arguments in two sermons, he left the audience to reach their own conclusions.

According to Tornau, this approach reflects Augustine’s broader teaching style, as he often explored multiple interpretations before allowing audiences to make up their own minds.

“The style, humor and content also make it clear that the sermons in the manuscripts were in fact written by Augustine,” he said.

Because the artifacts had previously been misattributed to the saint, the researchers conducted an extensive authentication process.

Tornau and Dr. from Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL). Clemens Weidmann assigned 20 more Latin scholars to examine the texts and verify their authenticity.

The history of the sermons has been difficult to trace.

“First of all, it is unusual for such a manuscript to be created in the 12th century. A copy from the 8th or early 9th century would be more typical,” Tornau said. he said.

Researchers believe that the sermons survived because a medieval scribe copied them from an earlier manuscript that has since disappeared.

“An old catalog belonging to the monastery mentions a text with the same titles and the same order of content as our manuscript,” explained Tornau.

“It could serve as a model.”

However, he noted that the theory could not be fully confirmed because the monastery’s library collection was destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, which lasted from 1618 to 1648.