Revelation mentions the Nicolaitans twice without providing any context to who they were or what they believed. The church in Ephesus hated their works, just like Jesus did, but the church of Pergamum, the third of the seven churches, tolerated it. The Bible presents tolerance of the Nicolaitans as a negative. Hating their works, like the Ephesians did, was a positive attribute. Understanding who the Nicolaitans were is vital to grasp the relation between them, Balaam, and other players woven into the tapestry of the seven churches of Revelation.
The Nicolaitans in Revelation 2
Revelation refers to the Nicolaitans twice. The first instance is in chapter 2 verse 6, which reads: “Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” (Revelation 2:6). In this matter, the Ephesian church held the same position as Jesus.
The word translated as “hate” is miseo in Greek. It means to detest or to find utterly repulsive. The Nicolaitans, therefore, engaged in activities that Jesus and the church of Ephesus considered unacceptable to the extent that they abhorred it. What exactly those deeds were, the Bible does not reveal in this verse.
By the time Revelation mentions the Nicolaitans again, in the context of the third church, Pergamum, the attitude of the church has changed. The text says:
“But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
(Revelation 2:14-15)
This reference to the Nicolaitans provides some context to what they believed or taught due to the comparison to Balaam.
Balaam revealed to Balak how to weaken the Israelites, getting them to compromise on eating food sacrificed to pagan gods and sexual immorality. Retroactively, Balaam received credit for revealing to Balak how to undermine the Israelite nation in Numbers 31:16. The details of the obstacle that would make them stumble are found in Numbers 25.
So, we have an idea of what the Nicolaitans believed, though the Bible does not reveal any more about who they are or what they taught. Sources outside of the Bible, however, provide more detail, though they do not always agree.
Who Were the Nicolaitans?
Several Church Fathers, among whom Irenaeus and Hippolytus, believed there was a connection between the Nicolaitans, and the seven deacons ordained to serve in Acts 6. The verse in focus is verse 5:
“And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.”
The verse highlights two individuals in the list of seven deacons. It calls Stephen “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” and Nicolaus “a proselyte of Antioch.” The text provides no more details on the other five deacons than their names. There must be a reason for it.
The detail about Stephen speaks to his character and commitment. He later became the first martyr of the Christian church when he was stoned by men who laid their cloaks at the feet of Saul, later called Paul (See Acts 7).
The comment about Nicolaus does not speak to character. Rather, it indicates that he converted from paganism to Judaism, and later from Judaism to Christianity. Pagan worship practices, which Nicolaus converted from, sometimes included sexual acts that the Bible characterized as immoral. He would also have had exposure to practices associated with pagan worship, such as indulging in feasts in honor of various gods. Acts does not mention Nicolaus again, but the detail added about his background suggests that he would play a significant role that impacted the Christian church later.
Many Church Fathers, such as Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Epiphanius, and several others believed that Nicolaus, the deacon, founded the Nicolaitans. They claim he fell from grace and started leading others astray.
Epiphanius of Salamis had this to say about Nicolaus the deacon:
“Though he had a beautiful wife he had refrained from intercourse with her, as though in emulation of those whom he saw devoting themselves to God. He persevered for a while but could not bear to control his incontinence till the end. Instead, desiring to return like a dog to its vomit, he kept looking for poor excuses and inventing them in defense of his own intemperate passion. Being ashamed and repenting would have done him more good! Then, failing of his purpose, he simply began having sex with his wife. But because he was ashamed of his defeat and suspected that he had been found out, he ventured to say, ‘Unless one copulates every day, he has no part in eternal life.’ For he had shifted from one pretense to another.
Seeing that his wife was unusually beautiful and yet bore herself with modesty, he envied her. And, supposing that everyone was as lascivious as he, he began by constantly being offensive to his wife and making certain slanderous charges against her in speeches. And at length he degraded himself not only to normal sexual activity but to a blasphemous opinion, the harm of perverse teaching, and the deceit of the covert introduction of wickedness.”
Epiphanius then details all kinds of perverted actions and teachings that entered and plagued the church.
Isidore of Seville, a 7th-century church father, also claimed the Nicolaitans derived their name from Nicolaus the deacon. He provides a surprising detail of Nicolaus’s actions which underpinned his understanding of the works of the Nicolaitans.
According to Isidore, Nicolaus had a beautiful wife and would allow any man to have intercourse with her as they swapped partners (Etymologiae, Book 8, Chapter 5, 5). According to his account, this practice was what the Apocalypse spoke against. Isidore seems to embellish earlier works that did not make such a specific claim.
Not all Church Fathers held the view that Nicolaus was a charlatan. Clement of Alexandria stated:
“But when we spoke about the saying of Nicolaus we omitted to say this. Nicolaus, they say, had a lovely wife. When after the Savior’s ascension he was accused before the apostles of jealousy, he brought his wife into the concourse and allowed anyone who so desired to marry her. For, they say, this action was appropriate to the saying: ‘One must abuse the flesh.’ Those who share his heresy follow both his actions and his words simply and without qualification by indulging in the gravest enormity.
I am informed, however, that Nicolaus never had relations with any woman other than the wife he married, and that of his children his daughters remained virgins to their old age, and his son remained uncorrupted.”
Stromata, Book III, Chapter IV, Section 25-26.
Eusebius of Caesaria quoted Clement of Alexandria and explained that though the Nicolaitan sect lasted only a short while, they misconstrued what occurred when Nicolaus brought his wife before the apostles. These two Church Fathers, among others, claim Nicolaus was a virtuous man.
It would be virtually impossible to determine above all reasonable doubt which of the two views on Nicolaus is correct. What can be determined is that the Nicolaitans compromised on the biblical teaching that all immorality must be shunned by Christians.
The Nicolaitans: In Conclusion
In the greater context of Revelation, the Nicolaitans were merely a step in the wrong direction of the sequence of churches. In the first church, the Ephesians hated the works of the Nicolaitans. The third church, the church of Pergamum, held to the teachings of the Nicolaitans and Balaam, tolerating compromise on sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. By the time of the fourth church, Revelation mentions neither Balaam nor the Nicolaitans. The protagonist is the epitome of evil in the Old Testament, Jezebel. Of the church in Thyatira, Revelation says: “…you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”
The gradual regression from one church to the next is obvious. Nonetheless, God showed mercy to Jezebel and gave those who committed adultery like she did time to repent, warning of the consequences if they do not (Revelation 2:21-23). It then turns to those who did not hold to the teaching of compromise promoted by the Nicolaitans, Balaam, and Jezebel, which Revelation calls the “deep things of Satan” and says no other burden would be placed on them. They would receive the morning star (Jesus) as a reward, implying eternal life.
So, the Nicolaitans seem to have been a short-lived sect within the early Christian church who were, rightly or not, named after Nicolaus the deacon. They taught compromise on sexual morality and feasting on food sacrificed to idols.
