Thanks for this post! It's a very strange part of the Bible indeed. So does the "place where the spirits/souls of the dead depart to and from whence they could be summoned and consulted" in this story lend any support to the Catholic idea of Purgatory? Or is that stretching it too far? Thanks!
Saul went to the medium out of desperation and fear and seemingly as a last resort. He was confronted by the Philistine army and was terrified. He enquired of the Lord but the Lord did not answer him in dreams , nor when he went to the priests to get guidance through Urim, nor through prophets.
This seems to suggest that necromancy, if it was practiced, was seen as a last resort and only used by those who would not go to the Lord for guidance, or to whom the Lord would not answer. But it was real and there were real necromancers.
Thanks for this post! It's a very strange part of the Bible indeed. So does the "place where the spirits/souls of the dead depart to and from whence they could be summoned and consulted" in this story lend any support to the Catholic idea of Purgatory? Or is that stretching it too far? Thanks!
Saul went to the medium out of desperation and fear and seemingly as a last resort. He was confronted by the Philistine army and was terrified. He enquired of the Lord but the Lord did not answer him in dreams , nor when he went to the priests to get guidance through Urim, nor through prophets.
This seems to suggest that necromancy, if it was practiced, was seen as a last resort and only used by those who would not go to the Lord for guidance, or to whom the Lord would not answer. But it was real and there were real necromancers.