A shocker it would be, if one of the great Church scholars, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 A.D.-430 A.D.), in effect okayed or, under special circumstances, at least tolerated communication with spirits of the deceased.

Augustine okaying this? Not actually. (Read on.)

The formal Church considers this “necromancy,” a serious transgression.

The term stems from the Greek words for “dead” and “divination” and the official stance of the Church is a strict, unconditional prohibition.

This teaching is articulated clearly in the Catechism under paragraph 2116, which states that all forms of divination are to be rejected. In Catholic theology, divination is the attempt to unveil what is hidden through supernatural means outside of God.

Yet there it is, in two previously unknown, recently discovered Augustinian sermons.

The sermons were discovered in a Polish monastery manuscript and addressed the theological puzzle of how the Witch of Endor could summon the deceased prophet Samuel in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 28:3-7: ).

It’s important to read the context in full., “Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists. [scroll for more:]

“So the Philistines gathered together and came and camped in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together and they camped in Gilboa.

“When Saul saw the camp of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets.  

“Then Saul said to his servants, ‘Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.’ And his servants said to him, ‘Behold, there is a woman who is a medium at Endor.’”

A medium! And one, as it says, “that hath a familiar spirit.”

The Church and its exorcists explicitly warn against this, for demons often disguise themselves as spirits of the dead.

The woman was said to possess an “ōḇ,” which with no direct translation could mean anything from a summoning pit to a ritual talisman.

The witch succeeded in raising Samuel – or one appearing as Samuel, who then rebuked Saul for having “disquieted” him and informed Saul that God had “departed” from Saul, had “rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbor.”

The first of St. Augustine’s sermons, according to the university’s summary, contends with the troubling issue and raises two possible answers: Either the spirit of “Samuel” was an illusion crafted by the witch to deceive Saul, or, if authentic, was permitted by God in this singular instance in order to confront the king with his transgressions.

There is no scandal in the sermons: for Augustine, as it turned out, did not provide a single answer but rather left it for his audience to reflect on the possibilities and therefore grapple themselves with the inherent mystery necessary for faith.