The clergy of today are the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans were those who taught and practiced that the ministers of God were superior and were to be elevated about the flock. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans was created by those who claimed to have a superior status over the laity of the Church; the laity was the rest of the household of God. This doctrine created a division between the people of God known as the clergy-laity divide and prevented the doctrine of the “priesthood of all believers” from being practiced in the Church then and continues today. Those who followed the doctrine of the Nicolaitans assumed superiority over the people. They exercised authority and power over the people using the positional, top down hierarchy system. This doctrine taught that only those who served as the official clergy were the ones who could hear, understand, and knew what God was saying to the people. It is clear, that Jesus hated the doctrine (teaching) of the Nicolaitans, which would exalt one believer above another. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans led to the one bishop ruler prevailing in the Catholic Church, followed by a pope over all the Catholic churches, which Christianity also adopted during the Reformation by replacing the priest and pope with the pastor. Much of our thinking and our Christian traditions came out of the Reformation and are simply not according to the apostles' faith, doctrines, and practices. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans is still practiced today when we exalt or elevate a priest, pastor, elder, bishop, five-fold minister, or clergy member to a hierarchal position of rank, authority and power over the other members of the family of God. In modern Christianity, we have put the doctrine of the Nicolaitans into practice by exalting one believer over another believer, through the use of a hierarchal positions and titles. The church has been hijacked by the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans are the ones who are called by titles like Reverend, Doctor, Pastor, Apostle, Father, etc. These men have set themselves above the rest of the people and have assumed power over the flock, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In addition to the power, they are taking sordid gain (money others have worked for) and the money also absolutely corrupts. So, the Nicolaitans are doubly corrupted. They have the love of power and the love of money. www.christianmyths.org