MATTHIAS, TRADITIONS OF. A Gospel of Matthias is mentioned by Origen and other sources. Three (possibly four) quotations from the Traditions of Matthias are preserved by Clement of Alexandria, and these show affinities with the Gospel of the Hebrews and the Coptic Gospel of Thomas. According to Clement and Hippolytus, the Basilidians claimed traditions transmitted by Matthias. The problem is (a) whether the documents mentioned are identical (scholars differ), and (b) whether they are connected with the Basilidians (Clement’s quotations are not markedly Gnostic). See NTAp. I. 308ff.