Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
We can see that the words about the Nicolaitans was to the church in Ephesus. They were one church but the Nicolaitans were most likely a sect within following (Acts 6:5). It appears as yet they had not broken away from the locality. The Nicolaitans once they left the ground of locality and became a religio-political entity, became the Roman Catholics.
Clergy-laity distinction is a distortion of the truth. Then all churches that practice that are a distortion of Christianity, or what Lee would call a degradation.
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It is the height of reckless speculation to equate Nicholas from Antioch, a former convert to Judaism, and appointed as one of the seven deacons by the Apostles in Jerusalem, to be the leader of the Nicolaitams in Ephesus a half century later. You built your theories around Acts 6.5?
The so-called "clergy" were established by the apostles when they decided to order the churches with elders and deacons.