Nike- what you don't know

A man posed this question to me while I was wearing my brand new, pearly white Nike sneakers: "Do you know what Nike stands for?" Yeah," I replied, "Just do it." The gentlemen said, I advise you to look into it the subject a little deeper, and so I did. This article is the result of my study on the subject.

Nike in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology Nike is called the Goddess of Victory. She came before the Olympians and is the emblem of the Olympic games. She is the daughter of the giant Pallas and the river Goddess Styx. She was sent to fight on the side of Zeus in his battle against the Titans.

At first she was connected to Athena, who was known as the dispenser of victory. Later on she is detached from her. In illustrations Athena and Zeus can be seen carrying small figures of Nike showing her connection with both mythological pagan gods. When Nike is seen with Athena she is always wingless, pictured alone she has wings. Nike is also seen carrying a wreath, palm branch, or a caduceus of Hermes. In many works of art she is seen with the outstretched wings of the winner of a competition. Nike was later recognized as a medium of achievement between men and gods in battle and in other human endeavors.

What the Bible Reveals about Nike

In Revelation 2 Yahshua the Messiah is giving a warning to the Assembly at Ephesus. Remember that this is a revelation from our savior Yahshua. This is not a revelation of John, who only had the honor of observing and recording it. Revelation means an appearing or revealing, apokalupsis in Greek. Yahshua is "revealing" this to the Ephesus Assembly.

Revelation 2:1-6 reads, "Unto the Angel of the Assembly of Ephesus write; These things saith He that holds the seven stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labor and thy patience, and how you can not bear them which are evil, and you have tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars: And have borne, and have patience, and for My name’s sake (Yahshua) have labored, and have not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because you have left your first love. Remember therefore from whence you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate."

One of the virtues of the Ephesus Assembly was that it knew the evils of the Nicolaitanes. "Ephesus hated the terrible deeds of the Nicolaitanes; Pergamos accepted them. Ephesus was troubled only with deeds--but by the time the deeds reached Pergamos, they became doctrine (Rev 2:15). Ephesus would not put up with the Nicolaitanes, but Pergamos held the corrupters to her bosom and permitted them to corrupt and poison the sources of purity and morality in the local assembly there"

(The Revelation Verse by Verse Study, Dr. Oliver B. Greene).

A note on verse 14 regarding the Pergamos Assembly reads: "Pergamum was the first city in Asia (AD 29) with a temple for the worship of Augustus (Octavius Caesar)...very center of emperor worship." (Robertson Word Pictures)." Pergamum obviously held beliefs and practices involving the worship of the Goddess Nike and other polytheistic beliefs.

One authority says about Pergamos, "Pergamos...The name was originally given to a remarkable hill, presenting a conical appearance when viewed from the plain. The local legends attached a sacred character to this place. Upon it the Cabiri were said to have been witnesses of the birth of Zeus...The greatest glory of the city was the so-called Nicephorium, a grove of extreme beauty, laid out as a thank-offering for a victory over Antiochus, in which was an assemblage of temples, probably all the deities, Zeus, Athene, Apollo, Aesculapius, Dionysus, and Aphrodite. The sumptuousness of the Attalic princes had raised Pergamos to the rank of the first city in Asia as regards splendour, and Pliny speaks of it as without a rival in the province. Its prominence, however, was not that of a commerical town, like Ephesus or Corinth, but arose from its peculiar features. It was a sort of union of a pagan cathedral city, an university town, and a royal residence, embellished during a succession of years by kings who all had a passion for expenditure and ample means of gratifying it" (Dr. William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 1872).

Yahweh condemned the Pergamos Assembly for several reasons, including those within it who held to the pagan beliefs of the Nicolaitanes. "But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate" (Rev. 2:14-15).

Notice the following etymological correlation between the Nicolaitanes and the deity Nike:

Nicolaitanes- Strongs No. 3531, from 3532, an adherent of Nicolaus; 3532, from 3534 nikos a conquest, triumph. 3534 from 3529 Nike- (pronounced nee’-kay) conquest, the means of success, victory.

Should Yahweh’s People Wear the Symbol of a Pagan God?

Studying this subject in more depth I found myself researching other pagan gods condemned by Yahweh in the Scriptures. Much of the information about Nike is cataloged with other pagan deities like Baal, Ishtar, Tammuz, Moloch, as well as countless others. I realized that mythology was not just some harmless Greek religion that I had studied in school, but ancient pagan systems of religion that we still see today… even evidenced on shoes. Yahweh certainly does not want his people associated with any "strange gods."

The first two of the Ten Commandments read, "And Elohim spoke all these words, saying, I am Yahweh your Elohim, which have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, You shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any LIKENESS of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Though shalt not bow thyself to them, nor serve them: for I Yahweh Elohim am a JEALOUS Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments."

Wearing the name Nike on your shoes may not constitute unconditional worship of this goddess, but it certainly defies the prohibition against making a likeness of this deity in the form of a name. If we are to be sealed by Yahweh’s name (Revelation 14:1), then we cannot in all right conscience promote a pagan deity’s name that Yahweh hates. Yahweh’s people are to be a set-apart people.

Where are you going to stop?

Some will ask, "Where are you going to stop?" Look, if we are not willing to acknowledge paganism or weed it out when we find it, then we are indeed fooling ourselves, or Satan is fooling us. The goal of Yahweh’s Restoration Ministry is to restore the right paths to dwell in, including pointing out the paganism that we encounter daily.

Some may ask, "If you are not going to wear Nike shoes then should you pronounce the common names of the months or the days of the week because they also derive from pagan gods?" This is a typical argument from those with no desire to change, as if this reasoning somehow nullifies the question at hand.

Let's look at it realistically. Yahweh knows we live in spiritual Babylon. He realizes that we could not even correspond with our neighbors without using the names of the days of the week or months. There are elements of paganism that we are forced to live with because we live in that kind of society and our language reflects that fact, just as it did for the prophet Isaiah in 6:5, who complained to Yahweh that he, too, was a person of unclean lips in his culture.

We can't stop communicating by taking out half the words in our English language because they are based in Greco-Roman paganism. But what about the paganism we CAN change? Should we willingly wear the name of a Greek goddess on our shoes or clothing, even when we have the choice not to do so? Should we advertise it on our bodies knowing its etymology? Are we not Yahweh’s temple? Should we defile that temple by promoting a god Yahweh strongly condemns in the Book of Revelation?

We cannot tell you how to dress. To get right down to it, we will not turn someone away because they wear Nike shoes. What we can do is give you the knowledge necessary to make your own decision. And wouldn't you rather have that knowledge and be able to do something with that knowledge that will please your Father in Heaven?

Glossary of Terms
Apollo- The god of prophecy, music and healing and one of the twelve great Olympian gods. His arrows were the bringers are plague.
Athena- Goddess of war and crafts. She was one of the twelve great Olympian gods, who was sprung from the head of Zeus.
Baal- Any of various local fertility and nature gods of the ancient Semitic peoples considered to be false gods by the Hebrews
Caduceus- The winged staff of mercury: now a symbol of the medical profession.
Dionysus- God of wine and the youngest of the twelve Olympians. The goddess Hestia relinquished her position to him when he entered Olympus after spending many years wandering the world establishing his cult.
Hermes- God of trade, messengers, roads and flocks and one of the twelve great Olympian gods. With his winged sandals and cap he was the messenger of the gods.
Ishtar- The chief Babylonian and Assyrian goddess, associated with love, fertility, and war, being the counterpart to the Phoenician Astarte.
Moloch- The god of the Canaanites and Phoenicians to whom children were sacrificed
Pallas- One of the younger Titans, he was presumably cast into Tartarus. Pallas was probably the Titan of War given his name (a title of Athene's as goddess of war) and the names of his children - Victory, Power, Force, and Rivalry.
Phiale- A shallow vessel in Greek.
Styx- was the eldest of the Okeanides and the goddess of the chief river of Hades. Styx' name is derived from the verb stygeo (=to hate, to abhor).
Tammuz- A deity among the ancient Syrians, in honor of whom the Hebrew idolatresses held an annual lamentation. This deity has been conjectured to be the same with the Ph[oe]nician Adon, or Adonis.
Titans- The six sons of Uranus (Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Iapetus, Hyperion and Cronus) who overthrew their father Uranus.
Zeus- King of the Gods and greatest of the twelve Olympians. He was god of the heavens, weather, fate, and kings.