Gospel of Matthias Gospel of Matthias 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 of it in ancient works by church fathers (see below). There is too little evidence to decide whether a Traditions of Matthias is the same work, according to J.B. Matthews, "The Anchor Bible Dictionary" (IV:644). Though the work is lost, Clement of Alexandria records a sentence urging asceticism that the Nicolaitanes ascribe to Matthias: "we must combat our flesh, set no value
Judas Iscariot that, in the New Testament, the name "Judas" was constructed as an attack on the Judaeans or on the Judaean religious establishment held responsible for executing Jesus. In his book "The Sins of Scripture" (2009), John Shelby Spong concurs with this argument, insisting, "The whole story of Judas has the feeling of being contrived ... The act of betrayal by a member of the twelve disciples is not found in the earliest Christian writings. Judas is first placed into the Christian story by the Gospel of Mark (), who wrote in the early years of the eighth decade of the