Nicolaitanes

The Nicolaitanes (or Nicolaitans) were a sect condemned twice in the letters to the seven churches in Revelation: Jesus declares that the church at Ephesus hates their deeds as he also hates them (Revelation 2:6), and the church at Pergamos is rebuked for having some who hold their doctrine (Revelation 2:15). Their teaching is associated with the doctrine of Balaam — eating food sacrificed to idols and committing sexual immorality — suggesting an antinomian movement that used Christian liberty as license for participation in pagan religious and social practices.

Ancient sources (Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria) trace the Nicolaitans to Nicolas of Antioch, one of the seven deacons of Acts 6:5, though this identification is contested by other early writers. Whether or not the connection to Nicolas is historical, the Nicolaitan pattern — compromising with the surrounding culture's religious and sexual norms under theological cover — is presented in Revelation as a serious threat to the integrity of the churches that must not be tolerated.