Who were the Nicolaitans?<\/p>\n\t
The work “Nicolaitan” is only mentioned in\u00a0Revelation 2:6\u00a0and\u00a02:15. It comes from the Greek word\u00a0nikolaites<\/em>\u00a0which literally means “a follower of Nicolaus.”<\/p>\n Nicholas was a name used by some. For instance, one of the early deacons mentioned in\u00a0Acts 6:5\u00a0was called Nicholas (“nicolaus” in the Greek). Whether this is the same Nicholas mentioned in Revelation or that there was another is pure speculation. The name Nicholas means “conqueror of the people” and there is a subtle play on words being done in Revelation because the followers of Nicholas are being compared to the followers of Balaam. “Balaam” in Hebrew means “destroyer of the people.”<\/p>\n Revelation 2:6\u00a0tells us that Christians in Ephesus stood against the followers of Nicolas.\u00a0Revelation 2:14-15\u00a0tells us what the group taught. “But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.<\/em>” While the teachings of Balaam destroyed the people of Israel, the teachings of Nicholas has destroyed Christians. The implication is that it was based on similar teachings – idolatry and sexual immorality. If this is true, then the church in Thyatira was struggling with the same issues. “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols<\/em>” (Revelation 2:20).<\/p>\n Followers of Balaam, who were compared to the followers of Nicholas, are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament (II Peter 2:15\u00a0and\u00a0Jude 11).<\/p>\n Irenaeus, who lived about 180 AD, had this to say about the group. “The Nicolaitans are the followers of that Nicholas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles. the Nicolaitans lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these persons is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John. It shows that they teach that it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery and to eat things sacrificed to idols.”<\/p>\n Clement of Alexander, who lived about 195 AD, wrote, “Those who say that they follow Nicholas quote the adage of that man — “The flesh must be abused” — which they pervert. but that worthy man [Nicholas] actually meant that it was necessary to curtail pleasures and lusts.”<\/p>\n Tertullian, who wrote about 207 AD, stated, “I do not aim at destroying the happiness of sanctity, as do certain Nicolaitans in their maintenance of lust and luxury.”<\/p>\n Whether Nicholas founded the group or whether later men twisted Nicholas’ teachings to create their own beliefs, it is a group that sought after sensuality and thereby left the truth of the Bible. You will find some who build complex arguments that the Nicolaitans came up with the clergy \/ laity system. It is all built around the fact that \u201cpeople\u201d is found in the name Nicolaitans and \u201claity\u201d is also derived from the word for \u201cpeople.\u201d Since the clergy system was not documented to have developed until the third or fourth century, yet John writes about the Nicolaitans in the first century, it is clear that the two ideas have nothing to do with each other, other than that they both involved people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Who were the Nicolaitans? Answer: The work “Nicolaitan” is only mentioned in\u00a0Revelation 2:6\u00a0and\u00a02:15. It comes from the Greek word\u00a0nikolaites\u00a0which literally means “a follower of Nicolaus.” Nicholas was a name used by some. For instance, one of the early deacons mentioned in\u00a0Acts 6:5\u00a0was called Nicholas (“nicolaus” in the Greek). Whether this is the same Nicholas…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[101,102,76],"class_list":["post-579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-nicolaitans","tag-revelation","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3903,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-think-your-translation-of-nicolaitan-is-incorrect\/","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":0},"title":"I think your translation of Nicolaitan is incorrect","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I did some research recently and I found your translation of the word \"Nicolaitan\" from the Greek\u00a0to be incorrect. From your incorrect translation comes further assumptions which logically begin a continued false set of observations and conclusions. I am not trying to be difficult, merely bring to your attention\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13455,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/it-seems-obvious-to-me-that-nicolaitans-refers-to-the-clergy-system-in-the-roman-catholic-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":1},"title":"It seems obvious to me that Nicolaitans refers to the clergy system in the Roman Catholic Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 26, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Regarding the word \"Nicolaitan\".\u00a0 Indeed many definitions from lexicons simply say something that doesn't really lend any specific information to what it means.\u00a0 However certain things should be glaringly obvious here from the start. It's mentioned twice. Romans Catholics claimed it was just some short-lived sex cult with some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/didnt-you-overlook-the-also-in-the-discussion-about-the-nicolaitans-in-revelation-215\/","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":2},"title":"Didn’t you overlook the “also” in the discussion about the Nicolaitans in Revelation 2:15?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading\u00a0your response regarding the nature of the Nicolaitans, their doctrine, and practice. Perhaps you may take the same issue with me that you do with the other commentator who did not offer an answer but rather a criticism. However, I hope you would pardon the simplicity of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63493,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-doctrine-of-the-nicolaitans\/","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":3},"title":"The Doctrine of the Nicolaitans","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Revelation 2:15 mentions the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and says that God \"hates\" that doctrine. Whatever it was, the church at Pergamos had members that taught this doctrine as well as the doctrine of Balaam (Revelation 2:14). Because of these doctrines in the church, God had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31828,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-man-of-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":4},"title":"The Man of Sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Thessalonians 2:1-12 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Have you noticed that when little is said on a particular topic that it generates more discussion than when much is said? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Of course, when little is said the range of possibilities is wide open. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It generates strong opinions (not truths,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55647,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-say-there-is-no-sin-in-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":579,"position":5},"title":"Can we say there is no sin in heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We read that the devil and his angels were cast down because of rebellion. In light of this passage, can we say there is no sin in heaven? I've been confronted with this question. Answer: \"And nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}