The Nicolaitanes or Nicolaitans are an unidentified group of people mentioned twice in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. The church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:6) is commended for hating the "deeds" of the Nicolaitanes, and the church of Pergamos is blamed for having them who hold their "doctrines" (15). They were seemingly a class of professing Christians, who sought tointroduce into the church a false freedom or licentiousness, thus abusing Paul's doctrine of grace (comp. 2 Pet. 2:15, 16, 19), and were probably identical with those who held the "doctrine of Baalam" mentioned in Rev. 2:14.

The sect was purportedly founded by Nicolas of Antioch, according to Irenaeus a Deacon of the Apostolic Church. No writings of the Nicolaitans survive, and thus it is impossible to confirm their actual beliefs.

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.