Nicolaitanes

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The Nicolaitanes or Nicolaitans were a group of people mentioned twice in the book of Revelation in the New Testament. The church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:6) is commended for hating the "deeds" of the Nicolaitanes, and the church of Pergamos is blamed for having them who hold their "doctrines" (15). They were seemingly a class of professing Christians, who sought to introduce into the church a false freedom or licentiousness, thus abusing Paul's doctrine of grace (comp. 2 Pet. 2:15, 16, 19) or engaging in antinomianism, and were probably identical with those who held the "doctrine of Baalam" mentioned in Rev. 2:14. Baalam caused the Israelites to sin by inciting them to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to fornicate (Num. 25:1-2), two of the four restrictions placed upon Gentile converts to Christianity by the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:29).

Several of the early church fathers, including Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and Theodorit mentioned this group, which began to grow rapidly in the 2nd century. According to their writings, the sect were followers of Nicholas, one of the Seven Deacons chosen to lead the early Church in Jerusalem. The Nicolaitans maintained that there must be a religious hierarchy to control the spiritual development of the common people; it is believed they were trying to set themselves up as priests in a two-class system – one that would give them absolute control over the laity (common people), who would be completely dependent upon them for all spiritual knowledge, guidance, and access to God.

Like other followers of the Gnostic traditions, the Nicolaitanes sought hidden spiritual knowledge through mystical experiences. They believed that this knowledge alone was perfectly sufficient for salvation. They also taught that man's spiritual and physical natures are two completely separate things. This philosophy implied that they were free to commit sexual immorality and to overindulge themselves in any and every way. To demonstrate their convictions, the Nicolaitanes deliberately made lewdness and immoral behavior a distinguishing characteristic of their lifestyle.