Inkaneer, I will leave you to your beliefs, along with some words from the early Fathers that I hope will settle this matter for you.
****Constitutions of the Holy Apostles:****XII.
But because this heresy did then seem the more powerful to seduce men, and the whole Church was in danger,(5) we the twelve assembled together at Jerusalem (for Matthias was chosen to be an apostle in the room of the betrayer, and took the lot of Judas; as it is said, âHis bishopric(6) let another takeâ).
St Augustine, City of God:âhere are other meanings, too, in this number twelve. Were not this the right interpretation of the twelve thrones, then since we read that Matthias was ordained an apostle in the room of Judas the traitor, the ***Apostle Paul, though he labored more than them all,(5) should have no throne of judgment; but he unmistakeably considers himself to be included in the number of the judges when he says, âKnow ye not that we shall judge angels?â(***6) The same rule is to be observed in applying the number twelve to those who are to be judged. For though it was said, âjudging the twelve tribes of Israel,â the tribe of Levi, which is the thirteenth, shall not on this account be exempt from judgment, neither shall judgment be passed only on Israel and not on the other nations. And by the words âin the regeneration,â He certainly meant the resurrection of the dead to be understood; for our flesh shall be regenerated by incorruption, as our soul is regenerated by faith.â
**St Augustine, The Harmony of the Gospels: **
For now the apostle might speak of those whom the Lord designated apostles, not as the twelve, but as the eleven. Some codices, indeed, contain this very reading. I take that, however, to be an emendation introduced by men who were perplexed by the text, supposing it to refer to those twelve apostles who, by the time when Judas disappeared, were really only eleven. It may be the case, then, that those are the more correct codices which contain the reading âeleven;â or it may be that Paul intended some other twelve disciples to be understood by that phrase;(2) or, once more, the fact may be that he meant that consecrated number(3) to remain as before, although the circle had been reduced to eleven: for this number twelve, as it was used of the apostles, had so mystical an importance, that, in order to keep the spiritual symbol of the same number, there could be but a single individual, namely, Matthias, elected to fill the place of Judas(4) But whichever of these several views may be adopted, nothing necessarily results which can appear to be inconsistent with truth, or at variance with any one most trustworthy historian among them.
**St Augustine Homlies on the Psalms:**There is a deep mystery in this number of twelve âYe shall sit,â says our Saviour, âon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.â(4) If there are twelve thrones there, there will be no room for the judgment-seat of Paul, the thirteenth Apostle, though he says that he shall judge not men only, but even Angels; which, but the fallen Angels?
**Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata:**Matthias, accordingly, who was not chosen along with them, on showing himself worthy of becoming an apostle, is substituted for Judas.
**Lactantius, Of the manner in which the persecuters died: **His apostles were at that time eleven in number, to whom were added Matthias, in the room of the traitor Judas, and afterwards Paul.
Origen, Against Celsus: For His deity was more resplendent after lie had finished the economy (7) (of salvation): and this Peter, surnamed Cephas, the first- fruits as it were of the apostles, was enabled to behold, and along with him the twelve (Matthias having been substituted in room of Judas); and after them He appeared to the five hundred brethren at once, and then to James, and subsequently to all the others besides the twelve apostles, perhaps to the seventy also, and lastly to Paul, as to one born out of due time, and who knew well how to say, âUnto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given;â and probably the expression âleast of allâ has the same meaning with âone born out of due time.â