Eusebus Pamphilia Parts 1,2 and 3

Page 199

198

BOOK III

CHAPTER XXIX

Nicolaus and the Sect named after him.

CHAPTER XXIX. Nicolaus and the Sect named after him. 1. At this time the so-called sect of the Nicolaitans made its appearance and lasted for a very short time. Mention is made of it in the Apocalypse of John.816 They boasted that the author of their sect was Nicolaus, one of the deacons who, with Stephen, were appointed by the apostles for the purpose of ministering to the poor.817 Clement of Alexandria, in the third book of his Stromata, relates the following things concerning him.818 2. “They say that he had a beautiful wife, and after the ascension of the Saviour, being accused by the apostles of jealousy, he led her into their midst and gave permission to any one that wished to marry her. For they say that this was in accord with that saying of his, that one ought to abuse the flesh. And those that have followed his heresy, imitating blindly and foolishly that which was done and said, commit fornication without shame. 3. But I understand that Nicolaus had to do with no other woman than her to whom he was married, and that, so far as his children are concerned, his daughters continued in a state of virginity until old age, and his son remained uncorrupt. If this is so, when he brought his wife, whom he jealously loved, into the midst of the apostles, he was evidently renouncing his passion; and when he used the expression, ‘to abuse the flesh,’ he was inculcating self-control in the face of those pleasures that are eagerly pursued. For I suppose that, in accordance with the command of the Saviour, he did not wish to serve two masters, pleasure and the Lord.819 4. But they say that Matthias also taught in the same manner that we ought to fight against and abuse the flesh, and not give way to it for the sake of pleasure, but strengthen the soul by faith and knowledge.”820 So much concerning those who then attempted to pervert the truth, but in less time than it has taken to tell it became entirely extinct. all probability was, for at least a part of his life, contemporary with John, and thus associated with him in tradition, whether or not he ever came into personal contact with him. 816 Rev. ii. 6, 15. Salmon, in his article Nicolaitans, in the Dict. of Christ. Biog., states, as I think, quite correctly, that “there really is no trustworthy evidence of the continuance of a sect so called after the death of the apostle John”; and in this he is in agreement with many modern scholars. An examination of extant accounts of this sect seems to show that nothing more was known of the Nicolaitans by any of the Fathers than what is told in the Apocalypse. Justin, whose lost work against heretics Irenæus follows in his description of heresies, seems to have made no mention of the Nicolaitans, for they are dragged in by Irenæus at the close of the text, quite out of their chronological place. Irenæus (I. 26. 3; III. 11. 1) seems to have made up his account from the Apocalypse, and to have been the sole source for later writers upon this subject. That the sect was licentious is told us by the Apocalypse. That Nicolas, one of the Seven, was their founder is stated by Irenæus (I. 26. 3), Hippolytus (VII. 24), Pseudo-Tertullian (Adv. omnes Hær. chap. 1), and Epiphanius (Hær. 25), the last two undoubtedly drawing their account from Hippolytus, and he in turn from Irenæus. Jerome and the writers of his time and later accept this view, believing that Nicolas became licentious and fell into the greatest wickedness. Whether the sect really claimed Nicolas as their founder, or whether the combination was made by Irenæus in consequence of the identity of his name with the name of a sect mentioned in the Apocalypse, we cannot tell; nor have we any idea, in the latter case, where the sect got the name which they bore. Clement of Alexandria, in the passage quoted just below, gives us quite a different account of the character of Nicolas; and as he is a more reliable writer than the ones above quoted, and as his statement explains excellently the appeal of the sect to Nicolas’ authority, without impeaching his character, which certainly his position among the Seven would lead us to expect was good, and good enough to warrant permanence, we feel safe in accepting his account as the true one, and denying that Nicolas himself bore the character which marked the sect of the Nicolaitans; though the latter may, as Clement says, have arisen from abusing a saying of Nicolas which had been uttered with a good motive. 817 See Acts vi 818 Stromata, III. 4 819 Compare Matt. vi. 24. 820 This teaching was found in the Gospel of Matthias, or the παραδόσεις Ματθίου, mentioned in chap. 25 (see note 30 on that chapter).


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Articles inside

The Epistle of Clement and the Writings falsely ascribed to him

4min
page 213

The Evangelists that were still Eminent at that Time

4min
page 212

Trajan forbids the Christians to be sought after

9min
pages 205-206

Symeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, suffers Martyrdom

8min
pages 203-204

Nicolaus and the Sect named after him

4min
page 199

Cerinthus the Heresiarch

8min
pages 197-198

Menander the Sorcerer

4min
page 194

The Heresy of the Ebionites

9min
pages 195-196

The Divine Scriptures that are accepted and those that are not

26min
pages 188-193

Narrative Concerning John the Apostle

17min
pages 179-182

The Order of the Gospels

22min
pages 183-187

The Relatives of our Saviour

3min
page 177

Symeon rules the Church of Jerusalem after James

4min
page 172

Domitian commands the Descendants of David to be slain

4min
page 176

The Manner in which Josephus mentions the Divine Books

16min
pages 167-171

The Signs which preceded the War

7min
pages 164-165

Josephus and the Works which he has left

4min
page 166

The Famine which oppressed them

14min
pages 159-162

The Predictions of Christ

3min
page 163

The Last Siege of the Jews after Christ

3min
page 158

The First Successors of the Apostles

19min
pages 154-157

The Epistles of the Apostles

35min
pages 148-153

The Jews, afflicted with Innumerable Evils, commenced the Last War Against the Romans

5min
page 144

The Parts of the World in which the Apostles preached Christ

3min
page 145

The First Ruler of the Church of Rome

7min
pages 146-147

The Persecution under Nero in which Paul and Peter were honored at Rome with Martyrdom in Behalf of Religion

13min
pages 141-143

Annianus the First Bishop of the Church of Alexandria after Mark

5min
page 140

The Martyrdom of James, who was called the Brother of the Lord

22min
pages 135-139

Paul having been sent bound from Judea to Rome, made his Defense, and was acquitted of every Charge

9min
pages 133-134

The Calamity which befell the Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of the Passover

5min
page 131

The Works of Philo that have come down to us

21min
pages 127-130

The Preaching of the Apostle Peter in Rome

9min
pages 120-121

Simon Magus

9min
pages 118-119

The Gospel according to Mark

5min
page 122

Helen, the Queen of the Osrhœnians

4min
page 117

The Impostor Theudas and his Followers

4min
page 116

The Misfortunes which overwhelmed the Jews after their Presumption against Christ

7min
pages 111-112

Philo’s Embassy to Caius in Behalf of the Jews

5min
page 110

After the Death of Tiberius, Caius appointed Agrippa King of the Jews, having punished Herod with Perpetual Exile

4min
page 109

How Tiberius was affected when informed by Pilate concerning Christ

13min
pages 105-107

The Doctrine of Christ soon spread throughout All the World

4min
page 108

The Course pursued by the Apostles after the Ascension of Christ

18min
pages 101-104

Narrative concerning the Prince of the Edessenes

13min
pages 98-100

The Disciples of our Saviour

10min
pages 96-97

Testimonies in Regard to John the Baptist and Christ

9min
pages 94-95

The Alleged Discrepancy in the Gospels in regard to the Genealogy of Christ

26min
pages 85-89

About the Time of Christ, in accordance with Prophecy, the Rulers who had governed the Jewish Nation in Regular Succession from the Days of Antiquity came to an End, and Herod, the First Foreigner, Became King

10min
pages 83-84

The Cruelty of Herod toward the Infants, and the Manner of his Death

9min
pages 90-91

The High Priests of the Jews under whom Christ taught

4min
page 93

The Times of Pilate

5min
page 92

The Time of his Appearance among Men

10min
pages 81-82

The Religion Proclaimed by Him to All Nations Was Neither New Nor Strange

4min
page 80

The Name Jesus and also the Name Christ were known from the Beginning, and were honored by the Inspired Prophets

8min
pages 78-79

5. Literature

4min
page 58

Summary View of the Pre-existence and Divinity of Our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ

19min
pages 74-77

Sozomen in the First Book of his Ecclesiastical History (chap. 1

5min
page 64

From Constantine’s Letter to the Antiochians in Eusebius’ Life of Constantine, Book III. chap. 60

4min
page 59

3. Eusebius as a Historian. The Merits and Defects of his History

19min
pages 51-54

4. Editions and Versions

13min
pages 55-57

VII. ORATIONS

7min
pages 48-49

IV. DOGMATIC WORKS

4min
page 43

VI. BIBLICAL DICTIONARIES

4min
page 47

V. CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL WORKS

12min
pages 44-46

II. APOLOGETIC WORKS

24min
pages 37-41

3. The Persecution of Diocletian

9min
pages 19-20

6. The Council of Nicæa

9min
pages 28-29

7. Continuance of the Arian Controversy. Eusebius’ Relations to the Two Parties

14min
pages 30-32

2. Catalogue Of His Works

4min
page 35

III. POLEMIC WORKS

4min
page 42

5. The Outbreak of the Arian Controversy. The Attitude of Eusebius

29min
pages 22-27

4. Eusebius’ Accession to the Bishopric of Cæsarea

4min
page 21
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