NIC'OLA'ITANS (Gk. NocoNairaf, Nikotaitai). Representatives of a form of false teaching and loose moral practice, mentioned only in Revela tion ii. 6, 15, and in early Christian literature bearing on these passages. Among the early references is the following by trenams (Against heresies, i. 26) : "The Nicolaitans are the fol lowers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the Apostles. They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, [where they are represented] as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery and to eat things sacrificed to idols." They evidently carried to an illogical and immoral extreme the principles of religions freedom from legal requirements taught by Saint Paul. Certain critics have seen in these references of the Apocalypse an allegorical portrayal of Paul's teachings by those to whom they were repugnant. Most scholars, however, find no warrant for this. The Nicolaitans were among the obscure early Gnostic heretics w•ho offended chiefly in violating the decree of the Council at Jerusalem (Acts xv. 29), which for
bade participation by Christians in the heathen feasts and in the licentiousness by which these celebrations were commonly attended. That they were personal followers of Nicolas or Nicolaus of Antioch (Acts vi. 5) has not been proved. Their name (in Greek, 'conqueror of the people') close ly resembles the name Balaam (in Hebrew, 'de stroyer of the people') , whence it has been argued that no such sect really existed, but the close association of the terms in the Apocalypse is a part of its allegorical method. There is no rea sonable warrant for the eonjeeture. The sect was insignificant and disappeared. Other sects called Nicolaitans are met with in the Middle one flourished in the fifteenth century in Bohemia; these have no connection with the party mentioned in the Apocalypse. Consult the commentaries on Revelation, and MeGiffert, A History of Christianity in the Apostolic ye (New York, 1897).