The Nicolaitans: Unlocking Revelation’s Secrets

By Mark Swarbrick

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The following is a short chapter from my book, The Great Apostasy: Catholicism vs. Biblical Christianity: Revealing Cultic Parallels. If you want to understand some of the most remarkable prophecies in the book of Revelation, you must first understand the events and institutions that emerged during the centuries following the apostles. When that history is understood in the context of the rise and development of Catholicism and then placed alongside the biblical text, passages that may have seemed mysterious begin to take on new significance—and may help us recognize more clearly the prophetic significance of events unfolding in our own time.

Chapter 2 –  The Nicolaitans

In Revelation chapter 2, Jesus has John send a letter to the church at Pergamum, a city known for idolatry and compromise. Jesus commends them, saying, “You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” (Revelation 2:6). We need to understand that there are things Jesus hates and we should hate them too. One of the teachings of the Nicolaitans was that the clergy had a higher level of privilege, power, and doctrinal authority than everyone else. This ran counter to Jesus’s explicit teaching in Matthew 23:8-11:

“But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant.”

There is a clear parallel between the Nicolaitans and Roman Catholicism. Both created a sharp distinction between a privileged clergy class and the ordinary laity. In much the same way, Catholicism elevates priests to a special class who claim unique powers (such as transubstantiation and absolution) that ordinary believers do not possess. Priests are put on a pedestal, called “Father,” and the pope “Holy Father,” in direct contradiction of our Lord’s command. Jesus hates this. So should we.

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The Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church claims absolute authority to decide what Catholics are to believe. No one is permitted to question its doctrines or compare them to the clear teaching of Scripture. This is the very spirit of the Nicolaitans – an elite class that demands unquestioning submission.

Martin Luther dared to challenge this system. He boldly compared Catholic teachings to the Bible and called for reform. In response, the Catholic Church excommunicated him, declared him a heretic, and issued orders that he be hunted down and killed. Pope Leo X and the Emperor Charles V made it legal for anyone to murder Luther without consequence.

This was not an isolated case. Throughout history, the Roman Catholic Church has executed those who dared to stand on Scripture alone – from John Huss to William Tyndale and many others. The pattern is clear: when the Bible threatens their power, they attack those who uphold it. Jesus hates this Nicolaitan spirit of control and tyranny over God’s people and every Christian should oppose it.

If a religious sect down the street from you had leaders who set themselves up as the ultimate authority on truth, excommunicated all who disagreed, and actively hunted down and killed those who challenged their doctrines, you would have no hesitation in calling them a dangerous cult. Yet this is precisely what the Roman Catholic Church did to Martin Luther and countless others who dared to stand on Scripture alone.

The Roman Catholic hierarchy has a long and bloody history of persecuting, imprisoning, torturing, and executing Bible-believing Christians who refused to submit to its man-made traditions and authority. The cult-like pattern is clear and undeniable, so they have fairly earned the label of non-Christian cult. All religious institutions, whether young or old, large or small, must be judged by the same biblical standard. Anything else is hypocrisy.

Catholics often claim, “We reformed ourselves. We don’t do those things anymore.” But the fact is, the Roman Catholic Church has never truly repented of its sins or its core false doctrines. It still elevates its traditions and the Magisterium above the authority of Scripture. It still teaches the same errors that Luther and the Reformers rightly condemned – transubstantiation, the worship of Mary, purgatory, and salvation by works. The spirit of the Nicolaitans remains: an elite religious class that demands unquestioning submission and refuses to be tested by the Word of God. They may have foregone torture and burning at the stake, but the Nicolaitan spirit of unbridled pride, power, and unchallenged teaching, which once led to murder and mayhem, still exists in Catholicism.

Far from true reformation, the Church has continued its pattern of intolerance. As recently as 2024 in Oaxaca, Mexico, a Catholic community burned a Protestant church to the ground, destroyed the homes and crops of the remaining Protestant families, and drove them out. The attack was carried out under a 1993 community law – made by local Catholics – that banned every religion except Roman Catholicism. There is no evidence that the local Catholic priest ever opposed this unjust law. For thirty years the exclusive Catholic system was allowed to stand, and when the Protestants were finally attacked, it was Catholics who set the Protestant church on fire. The old pattern of persecution has not completely disappeared.

Even in traditionally Catholic countries like Spain and Italy, Bible-believing Christians continue to face harassment and unequal treatment. In Spain, evangelical groups have been fined by local authorities for distributing gospel tracts and speaking to people on the street, with officials labeling their evangelism as “illegal advertising.” In Italy, Protestants still face significant obstacles rooted in the country’s Catholic history, including difficulty obtaining official recognition, building places of worship, and having equal access to public institutions. While street preaching is not nationally banned, the pattern is clear: Protestant Christians often encounter resistance and discrimination that the Catholic Church itself rarely faces. The spirit of intolerance has not disappeared – it has simply become more subtle.

While Jesus said, “my kingdom is not of this world,” the Roman Catholic Church took another tact. Throughout much of the Middle Ages and into the early modern period, the Catholic Church exercised enormous political power over kings and emperors. The Pope claimed the right to crown kings, depose them, and release subjects from their allegiance if the ruler displeased the Church. In 1077, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV stood barefoot in the snow for three days at Canossa to beg forgiveness from Pope Gregory VII. This spirit of dominion is clearly seen in Revelation 17:18, where the Apostle John describes “the great prostitute who sits on many waters” as “the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.” For centuries, the Catholic Church acted not merely as a spiritual authority, but as a supreme political power that ruled over kings.

Most people don’t realize that the Vatican is a country, completely dominated by the Catholic Church. What does a country run by Catholicism look like? It is the least free in the world. Established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty, the Vatican is a sovereign, independent nation. It has its own government (the Holy See), issues its own passports, uses its own currency, flies its own flag, and exchanges ambassadors with nations around the world. If Catholicism was pure Christianity, one would expect this place to be a utopia, yet this tiny country is one of the most restrictive places on earth. There is no freedom of speech and no freedom of religion. Public criticism of the Pope or Catholic doctrine is not permitted, and non-Catholic worship is banned. The Vatican is a Catholic theocracy where the Pope holds absolute authority. Clearly, the Catholic Church has not repented and reformed itself from its most basic errors.

To reiterate, Jesus commended the church at Pergamum for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans. But toward the end of the letter, he reprimanded them for having some in the church who believed the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Jesus said to them:

“In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.” (Revelation 2:15-16)

The situation was this: The church as a whole rejected the teaching and practices of the Nicolaitans, but some in the church, while not openly practicing their evil deeds, believed that what they taught was acceptable. Jesus saw this as a seed of false doctrine that could grow into a root, and then into a cancerous plant that could affect the entire church. 2 Timothy 2:17 speaks of men who have gone astray from the truth, saying that, “their talk will spread like gangrene.”

Jesus calls them to repent. Willfully holding onto a false doctrine is sin. If they refuse to repent, Jesus says he will “wage war against them with the sword of My mouth,” meaning that he would inspire the elders and others to preach and teach against the doctrine and possibly call them out if they don’t abandon it. The lesson for us is that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans must not be tolerated in the Church. It must be repented of. It must be exposed and denounced.

In addition to creating a privileged clergy class, the Nicolaitans[1] also taught that sexual sin was of little consequence. They taught that the Gospel was really all about peace, love, and grace; that sin did not matter, particularly sexual sin. Again we see a parallel between Catholicism and the Nicolaitans. In December 2023 the Roman Catholic Church began publicly blessing same-sex couples. Priests are now permitted to stand before homosexual pairs and invoke God’s favor upon them.

The Vatican claims these are only “pastoral” blessings and not an endorsement of the relationship, but the public action speaks louder than the carefully worded disclaimer. This is the same tactic used by cults: deny the official doctrine or practice publicly while quietly accommodating the sin or false doctrine privately.

For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses officially condemn sexual immorality yet have repeatedly used their “two-witness rule” to dismiss and cover up child sexual abuse. The Mormon Church likewise maintains a strict official teaching against sexual sin while using internal systems to hide abuse cases and protect the organization. Catholicism is no different. It claims to uphold a high standard against sexual sin while blessing homosexual couples.

Furthermore, Catholic priests systematically molested boys for decades, and the hierarchy covered it up. Study after study has shown that the overwhelming majority of victims were male adolescents. Bishops knew. They moved the predators from parish to parish, silenced victims, and protected the reputation of the institution above the safety of children. When the scandals finally exploded into public view, Church leaders issued statements of regret while still shielding the system that allowed the abuse to continue for generations. This is not the behavior of a true church of Jesus Christ. It is the behavior of an institution more concerned with its own power than with righteousness and which protects itself at the expense of the most vulnerable.

Yes, the Roman Catholic Church has a long pattern of excusing sexual sin while claiming to stand against it. Now they are blessing homosexual couples and calling it pastoral care. The Catholic Church has perfected this double standard. When the fruit is rotten, the tree is known by its fruit.

When the Catholic Church blesses what God calls an abomination, no amount of theological wordplay can hide the compromise. This winking at sexual sin was one of the “deeds of the Nicolaitans” that Jesus hates and that we are called to hate as well. Catholicism has not repented or recanted. Therefore, even now Jesus is warring against them with the sword of His mouth – and this book is part of that warfare.

[1] Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.26.3.

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