Messianism shifted from religious to secular redeemers after Sabbatai Zevi

Evidence

Linked with this was the Jewish tradition of Messianism—the belief in a Redeemer who would rescue the Jews from captivity and restore them to their promised homeland. There were many aspirants to this role, some better known than others. The last to announce his advent and mission in purely religious terms was a seventeenth-century Turkish Jew called Shabbetai Sevi, a grotesque and tragic figure who was able for a while to win delirious support among Jews in both east and west. His failure and apostasy brought them disillusionment and despair. After this time, the Jews—now exposed to new, external influences—began to look elsewhere for the realization of their messianic hopes, and to turn from religious to secular redeemers. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 953 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Zionist secularization nationalized messianic myth rather than replacing it — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 315; Messianic hopes shifted from religious to secular redeemers after Shabbetai Sevi’s failure — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 953; Secular Zionism reworked Jewish messianic theology rather than replacing it. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 641 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Messianic hopes shifted from religious to secular redeemers after Shabbetai Sevi’s failure #corroborates (1.00) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 953