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Audiobook edition · 1 h 7 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 38 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 60 pagesAbout 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.
Who will love it
This tale suits readers who love early Christian storytelling, miracle adventures, sea voyages and rescues, and anyone curious about the apocryphal acts.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lot sends Matthias to the man-eaters
- In the dark prison a light speaks
- Andrew objects and a boat is waiting
- A disguised pilot tests the apostle at sea
- Stories at sea and the speaking sphinx
- Andrew wakes, learns the truth and breaks the prison
- The city turns on Andrew and the devil hunts him
- A flood of bitter water brings the city to its knees
- What the tale is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- MatthiasAn apostle chosen by lot, blinded and drugged in the city of the man-eaters, who keeps his mind by prayer and waits for the Lord's promise.
- AndrewAn apostle sent to rescue Matthias, who sails to the city, frees the prisoners and endures the city's violence.
- JesusAppears as a light and voice, as a ship's pilot, and as a beautiful child, guiding and testing his apostles.
- The devilCalled Belial and Amael in the story, he stirs the crowd against Andrew but cannot see him.
- The old manOne of the elders chosen by lot to be eaten, who tries to save himself by handing over his own children.
- The rulers and executionersThe leaders of the city and their men, who feed the city on strangers and keep count with tickets tied to the captives.
- Andrew's disciplesCompanions who sail with Andrew and, while they sleep, are carried in a vision to paradise.
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The Acts of Andrew and Matthias
by Anonymous early Christian writers
Blinded and jailed in a city of man-eaters, Matthias waits for Andrew, who sails with a pilot he cannot name.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Picture walking up to the gate of a city where every stranger is seized, blinded and made to drink a drug that drives out his mind. That is where Matthias, the apostle chosen by lot to replace Judas, finds himself in this ancient tale.
The Acts of Andrew and Matthias at a glance
- Reading time
- About 35 min30 min fast, 40 min slow
- Length
- 8,420 words
- Pages
- 38 pages60 in large print
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A lot sends Matthias to the man-eaters
The apostles divide the lands of the world among themselves by casting lots. Matthias draws the country of the man-eaters.
The people of that city eat no bread and drink no wine. They live on human flesh and human blood. Every stranger who enters is seized, and his eyes are gouged out. Then he is made to drink a drug prepared by sorcery. It drives the mind out of its right state, so that the victim forgets he is a man and eats grass like an animal.
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Blinded and jailed in a city of man-eaters, Matthias waits for Andrew, who sails with a pilot he cannot name.
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Details
- Language
- English
- Listening time
- 1 h 7 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 38 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 60 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 60 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 60 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Delivery and returns
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For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
The Acts of Andrew and Matthias. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-matthias.
The acts of Andrew and Matthias. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-matthias
The Acts of Andrew and Matthias. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-matthias.
@book{anonymous2026acts,
title = {The Acts of Andrew and Matthias},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-acts-of-matthias}
}
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What is the Acts of Andrew and Matthias about?
It tells how the apostle Matthias is blinded and imprisoned in a city of man-eaters, and how Andrew sails there with Jesus disguised as a pilot, frees the prisoners and faces the city until its people cry out for mercy.
Why is the Acts of Andrew and Matthias not in the Bible?
The New Testament canon formed around other books over several centuries. This tale was read by some early Christians but was never seriously considered for inclusion. Scholars see this as a matter of history and not a judgment against its worth.
Who was Matthias in the Bible?
Matthias is the follower chosen by lot in the canonical Acts of the Apostles to take the place of Judas among the twelve. After that the New Testament says little about him, and this tale fills in a later mission.
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