From Newsgroup: uk.religion.christian

A recently discovered manuscript is, apparently, a pair of sermons by St Augustine ont he subject of the Witch of Endor.

https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-15926977/lost-christian-text-augustine-witch-endor.html

Augustine's conclusion is that the witch had no power over the dead, especially the righteous dead, so if Samuel really did appear, it was
because God allowed it. Which just goes to show that theologians and
logical thought don't go together.

1. The witch reported seeing an old man - but if Samuel had truly gone
to the reward of the righteous and then been summoned back, he would
surely have been rejuvenated to eternal youth by this time!

2. The witch claimed to see numerous spirits "ascending" from the
underworld, but if the righteous dead are with God, they would surely
come down, not up!

3. Why would God allow Samuel to be summoned at all, when He had refused
to answer Saul by other means? And especially why would God allow Samuel
to be summoned by a witch when God's decree was that witches should be executed?

4. Even if there was a period during which the righteous dead were in
some special state, elsewhere in the Bible we are clearly told that the
dead know nothing and do not return and are not aware of what is
happening on earth. A bit of Scriptural knowledge would have saved St Augustine from a bout of convoluted and incorrect reasoning.

Of course the answer to point 2 might be that St Augustine subscribed to
the "harrowing of hell" doctrine, that the righteous dead before Christ
were nonetheless confined in Hades (the Underworld) until Jesus died and descended into hell to rescue them. That would still leave points 1, 3
and 4.

God bless,
Kendall K. Down
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