8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a city that eats strangers, a blinded prisoner waits for help across the sea.
The Acts of Andrew and Matthias is an anonymous early Christian adventure outside the New Testament. According to the tale, Matthias draws the city of Mermedonia by lot as his place to preach. Its people seize him, blind him, and imprison him. He waits calmly while the threat of death draws closer.
The story follows Andrew as the Lord sends him to rescue his fellow apostle. Andrew hesitates before the distance and danger, then boards a small ship with a mysterious helmsman. The voyage brings questions of trust and obedience into a tale where a cruel city's strength meets the apostles' apparent helplessness.
What you’ll discover
- A captive's quiet courage Meet Matthias as he faces darkness and danger without surrendering his calm.
- A strange sea passage Follow Andrew aboard a small ship whose helmsman knows more than he expects.
- Power set against mercy Explore a tale that places vulnerable apostles against a city built on cruelty.
- Beyond the New Testament Encounter an apocryphal apostle tale copied and retold across centuries and languages.
- Roots of medieval legend Discover the ancient story that also supplies material for the Old English poem Andreas.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy ancient adventure tales, students of early Christianity and apocryphal Acts, and anyone curious about the sources of medieval legend. If you want a short, calm historical argument, you may find its miracles and sea voyage less suited.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Matthias draws the lot for Mermedonia
- The man-eaters blind him and wait
- The Lord sends Andrew to the rescue
- A helmsman who knows too much
- Andrew opens the prison doors
- What the tale is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- AndrewAn apostle who hesitates at the distance and danger, yet obeys the Lord and sails to free his fellow apostle.
- MatthiasThe apostle who draws Mermedonia by lot, is blinded and jailed there, and stays calm while he waits for help.
- The LordHe speaks to both apostles and then sails the boat himself as a helmsman, hiding who he is.
- The angelsThey serve as the ship's crew and carry the sleeping Andrew and his disciples swiftly to the city.
- The MermedoniansThe people of the city who eat strangers, blind their captives, and keep to this custom as normal life.
- Andrew's disciplesCompanions who travel with Andrew on the sea and leave the city with Matthias.
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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The Acts of Andrew and Matthias
by Anonymous early Christian writers
Andrew travels to rescue Matthias from a city of man-eaters.
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Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
Matthias draws the lot for Mermedonia
The story opens with a task shared among the apostles. After the Lord's ascension, they divide the known world by lot, so that each man will carry the message to one country. Matthias receives Mermedonia, a city in the land of the man-eaters. No one else wants it, and the name alone is enough to frighten the others.
The tale is plain about what kind of place this is. The people of Mermedonia eat strangers. They do not welcome travelers, they hunt them. A man who enters the city does so as food, and the citizens treat this as ordinary custom, not as a crime.
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What is the Acts of Andrew and Matthias about?
It tells how the apostle Matthias is blinded and imprisoned in Mermedonia, a city of man-eaters, and how the apostle Andrew is sent by the Lord to rescue him. A sea voyage and a prison rescue fill most of the early story.
Who is the helmsman in the Acts of Andrew and Matthias?
The helmsman is the Lord himself, disguised as a sailor. His crew are angels. Andrew does not recognize him during the voyage, and the story lets the listener know more than the apostle does.
Where is Mermedonia?
The text never ties Mermedonia to a real place on a map. It is a legendary city whose people eat strangers. Scholars treat it as a setting of the tale and not as a known historical site.
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