St. Augustine's Lost Sermons Unearthed After 1,600 Years

Two previously unknown sermons attributed to St. Augustine, a seminal early Christian theologian, have been authenticated by scholars. The sermons were identified in a 12th‑century manuscript copied at Bad Doberan Abbey in present‑day Germany and examined by Christian Tornau, a Latin professor at the University of Würzburg. The manuscript likely derives from an even earlier source that has not survived.

The newly recovered sermons explore the Old Testament narrative of King Saul consulting the Witch of Endor, raising theological questions about theodicy. Researchers plan to publish the texts in a forthcoming scholarly edition after nearly two years of investigation. The discovery, initiated in 2024, was announced in 2026 and adds to the corpus of Augustine’s writings, which continue to influence biblical scholarship.