by John Thomas
With reference to John 8:44—But this was an arrangement not provided for in the Serpent's speculation. He did not imagine that they would be expelled from Paradise, and a guard be stationed at the life-imparting tree to prevent all access to it by every living thing. This appointment converted his speculation into a lie; and made him "a liar, and the father of a lie" (John 8:44). His assertion, then, "(!Hebrew!) YE SHALL DIE NO DEATH," was the first lie, which, when believed and acted upon, brought the believer under sentence of death. It was a Nikolaitane, or people-vanquishing principle, which tells the Deity that he lies; and that "the soul that sinneth shall" not "die;" and that "the wages of sin are" not "death."
— Eureka — An Exposition of the Apocalypse, Vol. 1, Ch. 2 — Epistles To The Four Angel-Stars Of The Ecclesias In Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, And Thyatira., Section I — The Nikolaitanes, p. 200
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