Gospel of Matthias

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The Gospel of Matthias is a lost text from the New Testament apocrypha, ascribed to Matthias, the apostle chosen by lots to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15-26).

The content has been surmised from various descriptions^{[citation needed]} of it in ancient works by church fathers (see below). It apparently was distinct from the Gospel of Matthew, and is generally thought also to be distinct from the Traditions of Matthias, although a few academics consider the latter to be the gospel.

[edit] Historical References

Though the work is lost, Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis, III, 4) records a sentence that the Nicolaitanes ascribe to Matthias: "we must combat our flesh, set no value upon it, and concede to it nothing that can flatter it, but rather increase the growth of our soul by faith and knowledge". The Gospel of Matthias was mentioned by Origen (Homily upon Luke. i); by Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiae, III, 25), who attributes it to heretics; by Jerome (Preface to Matthew), and in the Decretum Gelesianum (VI, 8) which declares it apocryphal. It comes at the end of the list of the Codex Barroccianus (206).

This lost gospel is probably the document whence Clement of Alexandria quoted several passages, saying that they were borrowed from the traditions of Matthias, Paradoseis ("Paradoxes"), the testimony of which he claimed to have been invoked by the heretics Valentinus, Marcion, and Basilides (Stromateis, VII.17). According to Philosophoumena, VII.20, Basilides quoted apocryphal discourses that he attributed to Matthias. These three writings: the Gospel, the Traditions, and the apocryphal Discourses were identified by Zahn (Geschischte des neuetestamentlichen Kanon, II, 751), but von Harnack (Chron. der altchristlichen Litteratur, 597) denies this identification.

Tischendorf (Acta apostolorum apocrypha, Leipzig, 1851) published after Thilo, 1846, Acta Andreae et Matthiae in urbe anthropophagarum , which, according to Lipsius, belonged to the middle of the second century. This apocryphal text relates that Matthias went among the cannibals and, being cast into prison, was delivered by Andrew. The narrative has no historical value. In the apocryphal writings Matthew and Matthias have sometimes been confounded.

[edit] References in Popular Culture

A copy of gospel which describes the Usher of Destruction and Avatara in general is given by Wilfred Talbot Smith to Brother Justin Crowe in the HBO series Carnivàle.

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.