in the late 1750s, frank returned to podolia, claiming to be a direct successor of zevi and assuring his adherent that he had received revelations from god. these revelations called for frank and his followers to convert to christianity, which was to be a transition stage to a future messianic religion (in which frank was the messiah.) in 1759, the frankists began negotiations with polish catholic officials to undergo a mass conversion to christianity the baptism of more than 500 frankists, including frank himself, was celebrated in the local churches, with members of the polish nobility acting as godparents. the newly baptized adopted the names of their godfathers and godmothers, and ultimately joined the ranks of the polish nobility. however, they clashed with church officials when they continued to intermarry only among themselves and to hold frank in reverence, calling him the holy master. frank was arrested in warsaw in 1760 and brought before to the churchs tribunal on the charge of feigned conversion to catholicism and the spreading of a pernicious heresy. the tribunal convicted frank as a teacher of heresy, and imprisoned him in a monastery for 13 years.while frank was in prison, his influence only increased, with his followers viewing him as a martyr. many remained in contact with him, and he told them salvation could be gained only by following a mixture of christian and shabbatean beliefs. after his release from prison in 1772, frank lived for 14 years in the moravian town of brnn, where he was surrounded by a sectarians and pilgrims who came to visit him. why have evangelicals and other christians fallen for the yeast of the pharisees? dont they know theyre falling for the synagogue of satan's tricks?
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