Two previously unknown sermons by St Augustine of Hippo, one of Christianity's most influential theologians, have been authenticated after lying hidden for around 1,600 years, revealing theological ideas not found in any of his previously known works. The find matters because Augustine's writings underpin much of Western Christian doctrine, so newly verified material offers scholars fresh insight into his thinking and could refine understanding of his broader body of work.

The sermons were identified by Christian Tornau, a professor of Latin at the University of Würzburg in Germany, who found them within a medieval manuscript. That manuscript had been copied at Bad Doberan Abbey, in what is now Germany, during the medieval period, meaning the sermons survived by being transcribed centuries after Augustine's original composition before finally being recognised as genuine.