Who or What is a Nicolaitan?

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K

Karraster

Guest
#1
Reading in Revelations is somewhat hard to understand. For instance, who are these Nicolaitans that is mentioned in letters to the Churches?

Rev 2

church of Ephesus
Rev 2
[SUP]6 [/SUP]But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.

church in Pergamos
[SUP]15 [/SUP]So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

The word “Nicolaitans,” in Greek, means “followers of Nicolas.” The name “Nicolas” means “victor of the people.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Seven, often known as the Seven Deacons, were leaders elected by the Early Christian church to minister to the people of Jerusalem. They are described in the Acts of the Apostles, and are the subject of later traditions as well; for instance they are supposed to have been members of the Seventy Disciples who appear in the Gospel of Luke. Although the Seven are not called deacons in the New Testament, they are, nonetheless, often regarded as the forerunners of the Christian order of deacons.
The Seven Deacons were:



Does anybody know if the Deacon Nicholas has anything to do with Nicolaitans? What does it mean? If God hates it, I'd like to know what it is.
Thanks!
 
R

reject-tech

Guest
#2
The word means "people conqueror"

It can be anything from a ruthless dictator down to the neighbor who gloats in telling the community how bad someones yard looks compared to his.

Both of them are out to "conquer"
And the book of Revelation is talking about both, to make sure that you, no matter what your status in the world is, do not have this mindset.
And note that it says you hate the deeds of them, not them. :)
 
R

reject-tech

Guest
#3
And no that Nicholas does not have anything to do with them (the ones used as example in Revelation), that I would know of.
The name Nicholas just means "Conqueror" or "Victor", it can be a good or bad kind.
 
K

Karraster

Guest
#4
It is clear from the evidence that this heresy, which began as a small group, in the first century, mushroomed and became a strong, dominant CHURCH by the third and fourth centuries, and became the foundation of the Church of Rome and the papacy. It is described in Revelation 17 as a “woman sitting on a scarlet beast” with the name: “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth” (Rev.17:3-5). By the Middle Ages this church became the great persecuting church and was guilty of spilling massive amounts of the blood of the true saints and servants of God (Rev.17:6). What was the main crime of this church? Spiritual fornication – or spiritual adultery! Combining pagan practices and doctrines with the Word of God, or replacing the teachings of God’s Word with corrupt, pagan deceptions and lies, straight from the bowels of Satan the devil! Says The Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary, “Pagan feasts might thus foster immorality, which is understood literally as licentiousness, or possibly in an allegorical way as unfaithfulness to God. . . . At Thyatira followers of Jezebel claim to know the deep things of Satan. . . . This claim to special knowledge of deep mysteries marks the incipient Gnosticism which flourished a century later (Iren.Her.II.2.2). The Nicolaitans may be taken to be a heretical sect, who retained pagan practices like idolatry [such as image worship, observing pagan holidays like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc.] and immorality contrary to the thought and the conduct required in Christian churches” (p.548). The early church fathers also spoke of the Nicolaitans. “Tertullian reports the lust and luxury of the Nicolaitans, cites evidence from Revelation, and adds that there was another sort of Nicolaitans, a satanic sect, called the Gaian heresy [worship of Mother Earth, which has reared its ugly head today] . . . Clement of Alexandria knows of followers of Nicolaus, ‘lascivious goats,’ who perverted his saying that it was necessary to abuse the flesh . . . Clement undertakes to show that Nicolaus [the deacon mentioned in Acts 6:1-6, a faithful servant of God] was a true ascetic and that the later, immoral Nicolaitans were not his followers, though they claimed him as their teacher . . . Later their name flourished as a designation for heretics.”by William F. Dankenbring
 
N

nathan3

Guest
#5
There's not much written in History about them I think, but dont just take my word for it .. I think those people engaged in a form of Baal worship ... But , when it comes to Revelation, where they are mentioned , you have to update it to what the people in the majority of Christian churches are doing to day.

There they are used as a type, for what people are doing today. Not so much the same exact thing, but a thing resulting in the same effect, which is enmity from God. Keep in mind Revelation has to do with the hour of temptation .
 
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2

2Thewaters

Guest
#6
Nicolaitanes is a christian who does deeds and works and faith not according to the word of God.

They are to repent and do the word of God.
 
K

Karraster

Guest
#7
There's not much written in History about them I think, but dont just take my word for it .. I think those people engaged in a form of Baal worship ... But , when it comes to Revelation, where they are mentioned , you have to update it to what the people in the majority of Christian churches are doing to day.

There they are used as a type, for what people are doing today. Not so much the same exact thing, but a thing resulting in the same effect, which is enmity from God. Keep in mind Revelation has to do with the hour of temptation .
Thank you. You are right in saying that basically, nobody seems to know for sure about them. At the same time I have been lead to believe they still exist today, and have much in common with the ones of Bible days.
 
K

Karraster

Guest
#8
Nicolaitanes is a christian who does deeds and works and faith not according to the word of God.

They are to repent and do the word of God.
Thank you. Do you have any sources? I've pretty much exhausted mine. Do you think it was associated with Baal?
 
Nov 18, 2013
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#9

john832

Senior Member
May 31, 2013
11,363
185
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#10
Thank you. You are right in saying that basically, nobody seems to know for sure about them. At the same time I have been lead to believe they still exist today, and have much in common with the ones of Bible days.
And yet they are still affecting the true church with their falsehoods.
 
R

RachelBibleStudent

Guest
#11
some early church sources state that the nicolaitans took their name from nicholas the deacon but distorted his teachings...
 
Aug 15, 2009
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#12
http://www.theopedia.com/Nicolaitans

Nicolaitans were one of the heretical sects that plagued the churches at Ephesus and at Pergamum, according to Revelation 2:6,15.Irenaeus identifies them as followers of Nicolas, one of the seven chosen in Acts 6, and as men who "lead lives of unrestrained indulgence"^[1]^. He also relates them to Gnosticism: "John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith (the deity of Christ), and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel, to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men, and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, who are an offset of that 'knowledge' falsely so called, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God, who made all things by His Word"^[2]^. There is also historical evidence of a Gnostic sect called Nitolaitans a century or so later.
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans appears to have been a form of antinomianism, which makes the fatal mistake that man can freely partake in sin because the Law of God is no longer binding. It held the truth on the gratuitous reckoning of righteousness; but supposed that a mere intellectual "belief" in this truth had a saving power.
Nicolaitans of the 2nd century seem to have continued and extended the views of the 1st century adherents, holding to the freedom of the flesh and sin, and teaching that the deeds of the flesh had no effect upon the health of the soul and consequently no relation to salvation.^[citation\ needed]^
Today, the doctrine is now largely taught that the gospel of Christ has made God's law of no effect: that by "believing" we are released from the necessity of being doers of the Word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned in the book of Revelation.

Hope this helps.
 
K

Karraster

Guest
#13
some early church sources state that the nicolaitans took their name from nicholas the deacon but distorted his teachings...
I read a theory that nicholas was not a true convert, and so lead many astray by his unstable thinking.
 
K

Karraster

Guest
#14
http://www.theopedia.com/Nicolaitans

Nicolaitans were one of the heretical sects that plagued the churches at Ephesus and at Pergamum, according to Revelation 2:6,15.Irenaeus identifies them as followers of Nicolas, one of the seven chosen in Acts 6, and as men who "lead lives of unrestrained indulgence"^[1]^. He also relates them to Gnosticism: "John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith (the deity of Christ), and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel, to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men, and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, who are an offset of that 'knowledge' falsely so called, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God, who made all things by His Word"^[2]^. There is also historical evidence of a Gnostic sect called Nitolaitans a century or so later.
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans appears to have been a form of antinomianism, which makes the fatal mistake that man can freely partake in sin because the Law of God is no longer binding. It held the truth on the gratuitous reckoning of righteousness; but supposed that a mere intellectual "belief" in this truth had a saving power.
Nicolaitans of the 2nd century seem to have continued and extended the views of the 1st century adherents, holding to the freedom of the flesh and sin, and teaching that the deeds of the flesh had no effect upon the health of the soul and consequently no relation to salvation.^[citation\ needed]^
Today, the doctrine is now largely taught that the gospel of Christ has made God's law of no effect: that by "believing" we are released from the necessity of being doers of the Word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned in the book of Revelation.

Hope this helps.
Thanks very much! This may be just what I was looking for.:)
 
R

RachelBibleStudent

Guest
#15
I read a theory that nicholas was not a true convert, and so lead many astray by his unstable thinking.
yes i think one or two early christian writers mentioned that idea as well...

what i gather from most of the early church sources though is that deacon nicholas' teaching strongly emphasized the biblical teaching that the flesh was sinful and that christians should therefore 'put the flesh to death'...he may have been a strong proponent of fasting and celibacy...

however it seems that the 'nicolaitans' took his teaching to an extreme and also incorporated some gnostic elements...they apparently taught that by blatantly subjecting their flesh to all sorts of sinful behaviors they could -abuse- the flesh and in that way 'put it to death'...and heir gnostic doctrine of the illusory nature of physical reality came into play here...they supposed that they could sin in the flesh without incriminating themselves spiritually because their flesh was not truly 'real'...only the spiritual was 'real' to them...
 
Mar 4, 2013
7,761
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#16
Originally Posted by Stephen63

http://www.theopedia.com/Nicolaitans

Nicolaitans were one of the heretical sects that plagued the churches at Ephesus and at Pergamum, according to Revelation 2:6,15.Irenaeus identifies them as followers of Nicolas, one of the seven chosen in Acts 6, and as men who "lead lives of unrestrained indulgence"^[1]^. He also relates them to Gnosticism: "John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith (the deity of Christ), and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel, to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men, and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, who are an offset of that 'knowledge' falsely so called, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God, who made all things by His Word"^[2]^. There is also historical evidence of a Gnostic sect called Nitolaitans a century or so later.
The doctrine of the Nicolaitans appears to have been a form of antinomianism, which makes the fatal mistake that man can freely partake in sin because the Law of God is no longer binding. It held the truth on the gratuitous reckoning of righteousness; but supposed that a mere intellectual "belief" in this truth had a saving power.
Nicolaitans of the 2nd century seem to have continued and extended the views of the 1st century adherents, holding to the freedom of the flesh and sin, and teaching that the deeds of the flesh had no effect upon the health of the soul and consequently no relation to salvation.^[citation\ needed]^
Today, the doctrine is now largely taught that the gospel of Christ has made God's law of no effect: that by "believing" we are released from the necessity of being doers of the Word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned in the book of Revelation.

Hope this helps.

Thanks very much! This may be just what I was looking for.:)
Forewarning to all. This is news to me, yet good news. I was wondering where arguments about the Mosaic Law had taken a foothold in the church. I have lived long enough to see three people die in one church I used to attend, who believed and taught this false religion. This also will start an argument because we have on this site people who are practicing this doctrine, and fighting to teach it. I have since rejected and ignored them. You might want to do the same if you are called names and so on. The people truly searching for the truth will find it, and the truth you all speak by not partaking in these arguments will be more substantial than the spinning of the wheel and never making any headway. God Bless all

Leviticus 19:14 (KJV)

[SUP]14 [/SUP]Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Revelation 2:12-16 (KJV)
[SUP]12 [/SUP]And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
[SUP]13 [/SUP]I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
[SUP]15 [/SUP]So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Romans 14:13 (KJV)
[SUP]13 [/SUP]Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
 
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Dec 12, 2013
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#17
Reading in Revelations is somewhat hard to understand. For instance, who are these Nicolaitans that is mentioned in letters to the Churches?

Rev 2

church of Ephesus
Rev 2
[SUP]6 [/SUP]But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.

church in Pergamos
[SUP]15 [/SUP]So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
[SUP]16 [/SUP]Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

The word “Nicolaitans,” in Greek, means “followers of Nicolas.” The name “Nicolas” means “victor of the people.”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Seven, often known as the Seven Deacons, were leaders elected by the Early Christian church to minister to the people of Jerusalem. They are described in the Acts of the Apostles, and are the subject of later traditions as well; for instance they are supposed to have been members of the Seventy Disciples who appear in the Gospel of Luke. Although the Seven are not called deacons in the New Testament, they are, nonetheless, often regarded as the forerunners of the Christian order of deacons.
The Seven Deacons were:



Does anybody know if the Deacon Nicholas has anything to do with Nicolaitans? What does it mean? If God hates it, I'd like to know what it is.
Thanks!
1st century A.D. sect and followers of Nicholas. The end of their doctrine is known as people conquerors. God would hate it because of a few reasons.
1. Contrary to the word of God as only 1 Lord and we are to be humble, forgiving, full of mercy and grace...not people conquerors.
2. In the Lord's churches Jesus is supposed to be the King, Lord, Leader and any other word of such caliber. People conquerors will usurp the Lord's authority and end up (Lording Over) the people.
3. It is a doctrine of a false teacher and God hates liars who would lead astray.

Just to name a few.