What Is the Origin of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6, 15)?

 Nicolaitan means “a follower of Nicolas or Santa Claus.” A group of followers from the church, who followed the ways of Nicolas, which were going against and fighting against the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

It comes from two Greek words, nikos and laos. Nikos means “conqueror” or “destroyer,” and laos means “people.

Because of the opposition Nicolas exposed against the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this is why he was even honored and worshiped as Santa-Claus through the Catholic church. 

” The original Nicolas was a conqueror or destroyer of the people!

Others think that the Nicolas mentioned in Revelation 2 is the man called “Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, who went bad” ordained a deacon early in the church’s history.

In Acts 6:5 talks about Nicolas being a proselyte from Antioch who was converted to Judaism, and from Judaism he became a Christian, and from Christianity,

he returned to the pagan worship of worshiping Aphrodite, Saturnalia, the worshiping of the sun as a god, etc.

The works of Nicolaitans which were done in the church:

Mingling themselves in the orgies of idolatrous feasts, acts of fornication, adultery, sexual immorality, they brought the impurities of those feasts into the meetings of the Christian Church.

And after all this was done, there was no any remorse or repentance done for the sins they had committed, instead as a part of a system, supported by a “doctrine of the Nicolaitans,” accompanied by the boast of a false prophetic illumination, the leaders of the sect started to condemn and oppose the law of Moses by teaching the doctrine of Antinomian.

The acts of sexual immorality and the eating of pork meat, and the eating of meat sacrificed to idols was encouraged.

The Nicolaitans doctrine declared that:  

The most important thing with one’s relationship with God is to have faith in Jesus, concerning the acts of committing adultery, sexual immorality, eating pork meat, eating meat with blood and eating meat sacrificed to idols, does not affect one’s relationship with God.

Nicolaitans compared to Nimrod:

Some people believe that the original Nicolas was Nimrod—the original arch rebel, who conquered the people and founded a man-made civilization within two centuries after the Flood (Genesis 10:8-12)!

While he was alive, Nimrod put himself in the place of God, or as the biblical text puts it, “he was a mighty hunter before the LORD” (verse 9).

When he died, his admirers continued to worship him as a divine hero.

They called him “Baal,” a name found throughout the Old Testament, meaning “master” or “lord.”

Nimrod also had other names. One, commonly used throughout Asia Minor, was “Santa” (see Lempriere’s Classical Dictionary.) “Santa Claus” is but a shortened form of “Santa Nicholas” or “Saint Nicholas.”

Many unknowingly honor this Nicholas even in our day by observing customs associated with December 25. 

Christmas originally was the Saturnalia or birthday of Nimrod.

Of course, these customs handed down from ancient paganism have been renamed and made to appear innocent and good!

Writings of the time say he later came to follow Gnostic teachings and became an ascetic, and many followed his new doctrine.

For further information on this Nicolas and his effect on the church, please see Nicolaitanism Today.