Philetus
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(beloved; 2 Tim. 2:17–18)—a teacher named with Hymenaeus whose word spread “like gangrene.” They departed from the truth by saying that the resurrection had already taken place and thereby upset the faith of some. The text does not identify them as Nicolaitans or give a complete account of their teaching; it likely concerns a spiritualizing denial of the future bodily resurrection.