NICOLAS (Nikólaos «Victor of the People»). - A deacon, bearing a Hellenistic name, the last of the 7 ordained by the Apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 6:5). He was an "Antiochene proselyte," and therefore not of Hebrew stock. St. Epiphanius (Haer., I, 21, 1: PG 41, 390) and others consider him one of the 72 disciples of Jesus.

St. Irenaeus (Contra haer., I, 26, 3: PG 7, 687) links N.'s name with the sect of the Nicolaitans and, along with St. Hippolytus (Philosophumena, 7, 8), holds him responsible for the origin of that sect of depraved morals.

Clement of Alexandria (Strom., III, 4: PG 8, 1232), followed by Eusebius (Hist. eccl., III, 29: PG 20, 277), holds that N. lived chastely and that, later, his disciples misunderstood an incautious remark of his concerning the need to "mistreat one's own flesh" (to mortify the passions), as if the deacon permitted the "abuse" of one's own flesh. According to St. Epiphanius (Haer., I, 25), on the other hand, N. at first left his wife in order to live in perfection, but then took her back in order to live disorderly. No Church attributes a reputation for holiness to N.

Bibliography

BIBL.: anon., Nicolas, in DB, IV, coll. 1616-18.

Pietro De Ambroggi

@incollection{ec8_nicola_nikolaos_vincitore_del, author = {De, Ambroggi Pietro}, title = {Nicola (ΝΙΚΌΛΑΟΣ « Vincitore del Popolo »)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1843}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/nicola-nikolaos-vincitore-del-popolo} }

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Nicolas (Nikólaos «Victor of the People»)

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