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SUBJECT: Nicolaitans
QUESTION:
What is it about the doctrine of the Nicolaitans that Jesus
hates so much?
ANSWER:
Notice some key verses:
Revelation 2:6
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the
Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Revelation 2:14-15
14 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.
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the
Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
NICOLAITANS
(nik-o-la'-i-tanz) Nikolaitai): A sect or
party of evil influence in early Christianity, especially in
the 7 churches of Asia.
1. The Sect: Their doctrine was similar to that of Balaam,
"who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the
children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and
to commit fornication" <Rev 2:14-15>. Their practices were
strongly condemned by John, who praised the church in
Ephesus for "hating their works" <Rev 2:6>, and blamed the
church in Pergamum for accepting in some measure their
teaching <Rev 2:15>. Except that reference is probably made
to their influence in the church at Thyatira also, where
their leader was "the woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a
prophetess" (<Rev 2:20>; compare verse 14), no further
direct information regarding them is given in Scripture.
2. References: Reference to them is frequent in
post-apostolic literature. According to Irenaeus (Adv. Haer.,
i. 26,3; iii. 10,7), followed by Hippolytus (Philos., vii.
36), they were founded by Nicolaus, the proselyte of
Antioch, who was one of the seven chosen to serve at the
tables <Acts 6:5>. Irenaeus, as also Clement of Alexandria
(Strom., ii. 20), Tertullian and others, unite in condemning
their practices in terms similar to those of John; and
reference is also made to their gnostic tendencies. In
explanation of the apparent incongruity of such an immoral
sect being founded by one of "good report, full of the
Spirit and of wisdom" (compare <Acts 6:3>), Simcox argues
that their lapse may have been due to reaction from original
principles of a too rigid asceticism. A theory, started in
comparatively modern times, and based in part on the
similarity of meaning of the Greek "Nikolaus," and the
Hebrew "Balaam," puts forward the view that the two sects
referred to under these names were in reality identical. Yet
if this were so, it would not have been necessary for John
to designate them separately.
3. Nicolaitan Controversy: The problem underlying the
Nicolaitan controversy, though so little direct mention is
made of it in Scripture, was in reality most important, and
concerned the whole relation of Christianity to paganism and
its usages. The Nicolaitans disobeyed the command issued to
the gentile churches, by the apostolic council held at
Jerusalem in 49-50 AD, that they should refrain from the
eating of "things sacrificed to idols" <Acts 15:29>. Such a
restriction, though seemingly hard, in that it prevented the
Christian communities from joining in public festivals, and
so brought upon them suspicion and dislike, was yet
necessary to prevent a return to a pagan laxity of morals.
To this danger the Nicolaitans were themselves a glaring
witness, and therefore John was justified in condemning
them. In writing to the Corinthians, Paul gives warning
against the same evil practices, basing his arguments on
consideration for the weaker brethren (compare <1 Cor 8>).
LITERATURE.-- Simcox, "Revelation" in the
Cambridge Bible; H. Cowan in Hastings, Dictionary of the
Bible (five volumes), article "Nicolaitans"; H.B. Swete, The
Apocalypse of St. John, lxx ff, 27, 28, 37. -C. M.
KERR ~from International
Standard Bible Encylopaedia
********
NICOLAITANS
[nick oh LAY ih tuns]-- an early Christian
heretical sect made up of followers of Nicolas, who was
possibly the deacon of <Acts 6:5>. The group is mentioned
explicitly only in <Rev. 2:6, 14-15>, where it is equated
with a group holding "the doctrine of Balaam," who taught
Israel "to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit
sexual immorality."
Balaam probably was responsible for the
cohabitation of the men of Israel with the women of Moab
<Num. 25:1-2; 31:16>. Therefore, the error of this group was
moral rather than doctrinal. If the "Jezebel" of <Revelation
2:20-23> was a teacher of this sect, as many believe, their
sexual laxity was indeed strong. Most likely, they were a
group of anti-law practitioners who supported a freedom that
became self-indulgence. It may have been the same heresy
condemned in <2 Peter 2:15> and <Jude 11>. Some early church
leaders believed the Nicolaitans later became a GNOSTIC
sect. ~from Nelson's
Illustrated Bible Dictionary
********
NICOLAITANS
NICOLA'ITANS
(nik-o-la'i-tanz). A sect or party that arose in the
apostolic period of the church, mentioned twice by name in
the book of Revelation (2:6, 15). In the former passage it
is said, to the credit of the church in Ephesus, that she
shared in the feelings of the Lord concerning the
Nicolaitans, viewing them with the hatred they deserved. The
charge is made that some in Pergamos (v. 15) held to
teachings of the Nicolaitans, who are compared to those who
"hold the teaching of Balaam," etc. "The general voice of
antiquity accuses them of holding the lawfulness of eating
things offered to idols, and of mixing in and encouraging
idolatrous worship; and as they are charged with denying God
to be the creator of the world, and attributing its
existence to other powers, they could unquestionably, on
such grounds, permit themselves so to act, and thus far it
is probable that the accusation is not ill-founded. The
community of women was another doctrine which they are said
to have adopted, and their conduct seems to have been in the
highest degree licentious" (Imperial Bible Dictionary, s.v.).
The origin of the sect will perhaps never be ascertained
with certainty. See Nicolas.
~from New Unger's Bible
Dictionary
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