Catholic News: What St. Augustine's Lost Writings Reveal About Spiritual Encounters
Episode 39 - (BONUS)
What did St. Augustine believe really happened when King Saul consulted the Witch of Endor?
Two previously unknown sermons attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo have been identified in a medieval manuscript preserved in Poland, giving scholars a new look at how one of Christianity’s most influential theologians interpreted one of the strangest passages in the Old Testament.
The sermons focus on 1 Samuel 28, the story commonly known as Saul and the Witch of Endor.
Near the end of his reign, King Saul is terrified as the Philistine army prepares for battle. God no longer answers him as Saul expects, and in desperation he disguises himself and seeks out a medium at Endor. Saul asks her to summon the dead prophet Samuel.
Samuel appears.
He tells Saul that Israel will be defeated and that Saul and his sons will soon die.
And for centuries, Christians have wrestled with an obvious question: What exactly happened?
Did the medium truly possess the power to summon Samuel from the dead? Was the apparition something demonic pretending to be Samuel? Or did God himself permit Samuel to appear despite Saul’s sinful attempt to consult a medium?
The newly identified sermons suggest that Augustine approached the story from another angle.
Rather than concentrating primarily on the mechanics of how Samuel appeared, Augustine appears deeply interested in why God permitted the encounter at all — and what it might reveal about Saul’s final spiritual condition.
According to scholars studying the texts, Augustine even considers the possibility that Saul’s final encounter with Samuel could have led him toward genuine repentance before his death.
That does not mean Augustine believed Saul was necessarily saved, and it certainly does not mean he approved of necromancy or consulting mediums.
Catholic teaching remains clear: attempts to summon the dead, practice divination or seek supernatural knowledge through mediums are incompatible with Christian faith.
But Augustine’s sermons raise a deeply Christian question that extends far beyond this unusual biblical story:
Can God still act in the life of a person who has made terrible choices?
For Augustine, the answer is always shaped by grace.
Even in the middle of sin, fear and spiritual confusion, God remains free to call a person back to himself.
And that may be the most fascinating part of this newly recovered piece of Augustine’s preaching.
SOURCES
Newly Identified Augustine Sermons
EWTN News / ACI Prensa — “Newly identified St. Augustine sermons explore troubling Bible passage”
The report details the identification of the sermons, the manuscript's history, the scholars involved and their interpretation of Augustine's treatment of Saul and the medium of Endor.
University of Würzburg
This is especially valuable because Christian Tornau is one of the scholars directly involved in authenticating and preparing the sermons for publication. The university reports that the sermons were found in a 12th-century Latin manuscript now kept in Pelplin, Poland.
University of Würzburg: Two New Sermons by St. Augustine Discovered
Sacred Scripture
1 Samuel 28 — Saul consults the medium of Endor and asks her to summon Samuel.
I would also add:
1 Samuel 31 — Saul's death in battle, which fulfills Samuel's prediction.
That makes the scriptural reference much more complete.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
CCC 2115–2117 — Divination and Magic
CCC 2116 explicitly rejects conjuring up the dead, recourse to mediums and other forms of divination. CCC 2117 rejects magic and sorcery intended to manipulate occult powers.
Catechism: Divination and Magic
FAQ
Who is the Witch of Endor?
The Witch of Endor is the traditional name given to the medium whom King Saul consults in 1 Samuel 28. Saul asks her to summon the dead prophet Samuel shortly before Israel's battle with the Philistines.
Did the Witch of Endor really summon Samuel?
Christians have debated the passage for centuries. Interpretations include the possibility that Samuel truly appeared by God's permission or that some other supernatural phenomenon occurred. The newly identified sermons indicate that Augustine was especially interested in why God permitted the encounter rather than simply explaining its mechanics.
What do the newly discovered St. Augustine sermons say?
The sermons focus on Saul's consultation with the medium of Endor and suggest that Augustine considered the possibility that Saul's encounter with Samuel may have led him toward repentance before his death. The sermons do not declare that Saul was ultimately saved.
Does Catholicism allow mediums or communication with the dead?
No. The Catechism rejects divination, attempts to conjure the dead and recourse to mediums. Catholics are called to trust God's providence rather than attempting to obtain supernatural knowledge or power through occult practices.
Do these sermons change Catholic teaching?
No. Newly discovered writings from a Church Father can deepen historians' and theologians' understanding of how early Christians interpreted Scripture, but they do not automatically change Catholic doctrine.
Why is this discovery important?
Augustine is one of the most influential theologians in Christian history, so finding previously unknown authentic sermons adds new primary-source evidence about his biblical interpretation, preaching and theology. The discovery also gives scholars new material for understanding early Christian reflection on 1 Samuel 28.
EWTN News: Two Previously Unknown Sermons by St. Augustine on the Witch of Endor Discovered
Sacred Scripture: 1 Samuel 28
Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§2116–2117
TRANSCRIPT
Hey Rebels, welcome back to the Rebel Saints podcast. I'm your host, Nicole.
Today I'm coming to you from my office, if you're watching this on YouTube, because I was kind of just scrolling social media this afternoon when I saw this news that I felt like I had to learn everything I possibly could about in, like, a 30-minute span and then come in and share it with you because I was like, this is the coolest thing to happen.
So, are you familiar with the tale in the Bible called the Witch of Endor?
If you're not, that's okay. I honestly wasn't really familiar with the name either, but when I started going through the article and then went back and read the passage, I was like, okay, this is Lord of the Rings-core, like, 100 percent, right? Because it's so bizarre.
But that's not really the reason I'm coming into your feed today. I mean, I guess it kind of is.
Okay, so the breaking news is that 1,600 years after St. Augustine walked this planet, two previously unknown sermons by him have been authenticated.
Which is bananas.
So here's how it went down.
In 2024, a guy by the name of Paul Alexander Neugebauer, an independent researcher specializing in the medieval history of the former Cistercian monastery of Bad Doberan in Germany, contacted Christian Tornau from the University of Würzburg.
Tornau is considered one of Germany's leading Augustinian scholars, so if there was anyone who would be able to really go through these manuscripts and authenticate them, he's the guy.
Fast-forward.
Among this medieval manuscript were two writings that had never been identified as Augustine's work.
So for roughly 1,600 years, these sermons had survived, but modern Augustinian scholars apparently didn't realize what they had.
And these experts ultimately concluded that the sermons were preached by St. Augustine himself around A.D. 400.
Which is wild, right?
This is incredibly rare. I mean, what else is still out there to discover?
So what was Augustine preaching about in these two homilies?
They come from that story in 1 Samuel, chapter 28.
Basically, King Saul is terrified before a battle. He feels like God is no longer answering him, and really, he's been completely disobedient to God.
So Saul gets desperate, as one is wont to do, right?
He disguises himself and visits this woman traditionally called the Witch of Endor.
This is where things get very Lord of the Rings.
The Witch of Endor is a medium, and Saul asks her to summon the prophet Samuel, who had already died.
Samuel appears and tells Saul that he and his sons are going to die the next day.
And that prophecy comes true.
For centuries, Christians have really wrestled with this passage.
Did the medium actually summon Samuel?
Did she really have that power?
Was it actually a demon pretending to be Samuel?
Or did God himself allow Samuel to appear despite Saul's sinful actions?
Those are some of the questions Christians have asked about this passage.
What's interesting about Augustine's newly discovered sermons is that they don't spend a whole lot of time trying to explain exactly how Samuel appeared.
Instead, Augustine asks a different question:
Why did God allow it?
And I think that's a question we've all asked ourselves at one point or another, right?
Why does God allow bad things to happen?
Why does God allow bad things to happen to me?
I'm a good person. Why is this happening?
All those kinds of questions.
According to the scholars studying these sermons, Augustine even considers the possibility that Saul's final encounter with Samuel may have led him to genuine repentance before his death.
He doesn't say Saul was saved.
He simply leaves room for the possibility that even at the end of Saul's very tragic life, God was still calling him back.
And that, Rebels, is such an Augustine thing.
Because one of the messages Augustine returns to over and over again is God's mercy.
God's mercy is real.
And I do want to make an important clarification here.
This discovery is not going to change Catholic doctrine or the Catechism.
The Church is not going to suddenly change its teaching on mediums, necromancy, or trying to speak to dead people like you would have a conversation with someone sitting across the table.
So put away the Ouija boards.
Augustine was not endorsing the occult.
What he was doing was reflecting on God's freedom to act even in the middle of someone's sin.
And for me, that's the most amazing thing about this discovery.
Because if you look around the world right now, I feel like so many people are hopeless.
So many people feel like everything is on fire and the world is going to hell in a handbasket.
And this is actually a very hopeful outlook.
Especially because I think a lot of people also feel like they are beyond redemption.
And what Augustine is essentially saying is that God is always there.
God is always seeking you out.
Even the biggest sinner in the world.
Again, Augustine wasn't fascinated by the mechanics of the miracle.
He didn't seem especially interested in exactly how it happened.
What he cared about was the possibility of God's mercy still reaching the sinner at the very last moment.
All right, Rebels, I'm going to leave you with those thoughts to reflect on.
Come find me on social media. Instagram is @RebelSaintsPodcast, and you can find everything else at RebelSaintsPodcast.com.
And now I have to skedaddle because if I don't leave right now, my daughter is going to be late for swim practice.
Bye.
