Antinomianism as Iconism: The Living Images of the Frankists

Emerging in the context of messianic Sabbateanism in Eastern Europe, Frankism’s main characteristics are its stern opposition towards rabbinic Judaism and its rigid antinomism. Frankist doctrine and Frankist practice straightforwardly reversed the Law to its opposite. Frankist leaders, and in parti...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Knut Martin Stünkel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: CERES / KHK Bochum 2023-12-01
Series:Entangled Religions - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer
Subjects:
Online Access:https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/11235
_version_ 1797391239473004544
author Knut Martin Stünkel
author_facet Knut Martin Stünkel
author_sort Knut Martin Stünkel
collection DOAJ
description Emerging in the context of messianic Sabbateanism in Eastern Europe, Frankism’s main characteristics are its stern opposition towards rabbinic Judaism and its rigid antinomism. Frankist doctrine and Frankist practice straightforwardly reversed the Law to its opposite. Frankist leaders, and in particular Jacob Frank (1726-1791) himself, employed strategies that took advantage of the multiform contact situations of religious traditions within the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth by metaschematic subversion of religious forms. Frank refused to hide what he claimed to be the true faith, and openly and publicly presented himself as an opponent of the established rabbinic tradition. The open, visible, and public presentation was intended to be an affront by ostensibly/iconically opposing its aniconic stance. Anti-aniconism performed iconically was a deliberate and virtuously employed strategy in the struggle about messianic and eschatological issues. The emphasis on visibility and the deliberate establishment of iconic scenes within Frankist practice also breaks with the Sabbatian conduct of occurring in the environs of the traditional community and not being sharply distinguished from the ‘correct’ faith. In my article, I will argue that Frank deliberately employed hyper-iconism and living images (tableaux vivantes) to fulfill his messianic role.
first_indexed 2024-03-08T23:29:04Z
format Article
id doaj.art-a2c4233dafba4cada5d54b307ba26138
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2363-6696
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-08T23:29:04Z
publishDate 2023-12-01
publisher CERES / KHK Bochum
record_format Article
series Entangled Religions - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer
spelling doaj.art-a2c4233dafba4cada5d54b307ba261382023-12-14T16:14:39ZengCERES / KHK BochumEntangled Religions - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer2363-66962023-12-0114510.46586/er.14.2023.11235Antinomianism as Iconism: The Living Images of the FrankistsKnut Martin Stünkelhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3182-2483 Emerging in the context of messianic Sabbateanism in Eastern Europe, Frankism’s main characteristics are its stern opposition towards rabbinic Judaism and its rigid antinomism. Frankist doctrine and Frankist practice straightforwardly reversed the Law to its opposite. Frankist leaders, and in particular Jacob Frank (1726-1791) himself, employed strategies that took advantage of the multiform contact situations of religious traditions within the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth by metaschematic subversion of religious forms. Frank refused to hide what he claimed to be the true faith, and openly and publicly presented himself as an opponent of the established rabbinic tradition. The open, visible, and public presentation was intended to be an affront by ostensibly/iconically opposing its aniconic stance. Anti-aniconism performed iconically was a deliberate and virtuously employed strategy in the struggle about messianic and eschatological issues. The emphasis on visibility and the deliberate establishment of iconic scenes within Frankist practice also breaks with the Sabbatian conduct of occurring in the environs of the traditional community and not being sharply distinguished from the ‘correct’ faith. In my article, I will argue that Frank deliberately employed hyper-iconism and living images (tableaux vivantes) to fulfill his messianic role. https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/11235IconismTableau vivantFrankismSabbateanismRabbinic JudaismMessianism
spellingShingle Knut Martin Stünkel
Antinomianism as Iconism: The Living Images of the Frankists
Entangled Religions - Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer
Iconism
Tableau vivant
Frankism
Sabbateanism
Rabbinic Judaism
Messianism
title Antinomianism as Iconism: The Living Images of the Frankists
title_full Antinomianism as Iconism: The Living Images of the Frankists
title_fullStr Antinomianism as Iconism: The Living Images of the Frankists
title_full_unstemmed Antinomianism as Iconism: The Living Images of the Frankists
title_short Antinomianism as Iconism: The Living Images of the Frankists
title_sort antinomianism as iconism the living images of the frankists
topic Iconism
Tableau vivant
Frankism
Sabbateanism
Rabbinic Judaism
Messianism
url https://er.ceres.rub.de/index.php/ER/article/view/11235
work_keys_str_mv AT knutmartinstunkel antinomianismasiconismthelivingimagesofthefrankists