Scholar Finds Two Previously Unknown Sermons From Early Church Father
Augustine of Hippo is one of the most widely known and beloved theologians in the entire history of Christianity.
For nearly two millennia, brilliant scholars and everyday believers alike have pored over his writings about the love of God, the sinfulness of man, and the glories of Jesus Christ.
But thanks to a new discovery, students of St. Augustine will soon have two more sermons from which to glean.
Professor Christian Tornau, a Latin scholar at the University of Würzburg, received a phone call in 2024 from the Bad Doberan Monastery Association in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with a request to translate some 12th century manuscripts.
“Two of the six sermons are previously undiscovered writings by Augustine,” Tornau recounted in an article from the University of Würzburg.
Protestia: Two New Sermons by St Augustine, About the Witch of Endor, Discovered in Polish Monastery https://t.co/3fKTUWmetZ pic.twitter.com/OEKoPzrv3p
— Protestia (@Protestia) June 22, 2026
He is now working on a first edition of the two sermons.
Both are about the Witch of Endor, a medium who King Saul approached in a desperate bid to contact the deceased prophet Samuel.
The events, recorded in 1 Samuel 28, prompted Augustine to present multiple possible interpretations to his hearers.
“Why can a necromancer summon the spirit of a prophet? This in turn opens up the theodicy problem: how can an omnipotent God allow this or is he not really omnipotent?” Tornau said in the article.
Christians have either viewed the supposed appearance of Samuel as deception from the Witch, or God allowing King Saul to be warned of his impending demise.
“The first was preached during the Sunday service and ends with the theodicy question and the interpretations,” Tornau said of the sermons.
“It was not until the second sermon on the following Wednesday that the options were weighed up,” he added.
Tornau noted that Augustine often allowed room for Christians to draw their own conclusions in the light of God’s Word.
“The style, humour and content also clearly indicate that the sermons in the manuscripts were actually written by Augustine,” Tornau continued.
Because previously discovered writings purporting to be from Augustine were later showed to be forgeries, Tornau brought 20 experts together in Vienna during the summer of 2025 to analyze the two sermons.
The University of Würzburg noted that they all agreed the sermons were genuine.
Augustine lived between 354 AD and 430 AD. Tornau said he would have expected to find a manuscript from the 8th or 9th century rather than the 12th century.
While previous discoveries from Augustine have been more groundbreaking, the two newly uncovered sermons add to his already large repertoire.
“This is not a sensational find like the 30 writings of St. Augustine that were discovered in Mainz in 1990. But we are supplementing Augustine’s extensive body of writings with two further exciting texts in a critical edition,” Tornau said.
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