subject: Whatever Happened to Youthful Innocence? [print this page] Whatever Happened to Youthful Innocence? Whatever Happened to Youthful Innocence?
Among their numbers were a sect that were called the Nicolaitans. The term comes from two possible sources: the name of a deacon, mentioned in Acts, who called himself Nicolaus; or, just as likely, the literal translation of the word... Conquerors of the People. Either translation really fits; and, more than likely, the two different possibilities mentioned by a few early church historians (one side-possibility is that an impostor called himself Deacon Nicolaus, in an attempt to become a bishop of a church-group later,) are somewhat interconnected.
In any case, some of the noted issues with this group involved unequal treatment of laity and clergy, in preference of the clergy themselves. This treatment involved forcing the laity to slave away to afford the clergy's lavish lifestyles, and affording the clergy sinful indulgences for which the laity were supposed to severely punish themselves. They spread doctrines that further enhanced their power over their people, tapping into one of two of the greatest sources of power on this planet: religious elitism, and governmental tyranny.
Many of these doctrines are summed up in that theological system which was first proposed by the Catholic saint Augustine in the fourth century, and was further proposed by John Calvin in England and Switzerland during the 16th century: the T.U.L.I.P. doctrine-sorites of Total hereditary depravity (being born a sinner), Unconditional Election (God choosing whom He wanted to be saved, and whom He wanted to be lost),
Limited atonement (the concept of God not sending Christ to die to afford everyone the opportunity of salvation, but rather affording it only to a select few; even fewer of whom were allowed by God to properly interpret the Bible's doctrines), Irresistible grace (the inability for people to reject God's attempts to reach them), and Preservation of the Saints (the idea that you can't give your salvation back, no matter how hard you try)... ideas that spit in the face of God's justice, mercy, grace, and love.
Eventually, this elitist doctrine - along with many pagan ideologies, designed to confuse the unwitting masses not "in the inner circle", - made it's way into the many secret societies of our day: most of which have their roots in the Order of the Free and Accepted Masons.
