List of messiah claimants

This is a list of notable people who have been said to be a messiah, either by themselves or by their followers. The list is divided into categories, which are sorted according to date of birth, if it is known.

## Jewish messiah claimants

[edit]

Main article: Jewish messianic claimants

In Judaism, "messiah" originally meant "a divinely appointed king" or "anointed one", such as Aaron the brother of Moses,[citation needed] David, Cyrus the Great[1] or Alexander the Great.[2] Later, especially after the failure of the Hasmonean Kingdom (37 BC) and the Jewish–Roman wars (AD 66–135), the figure of the Jewish messiah was one who would deliver the Jews from oppression and usher in an Olam Haba ("world to come") or Messianic Age. However the term "false messiah" was largely absent from rabbinic literature. The first mention is in the Sefer Zerubbabel, from the mid-seventh century, which uses the term, mashiah sheker, ("false messiah").[3]

* Jesus of Nazareth (c. 4 BC – 30/33 AD), a religious leader who was persecuted by the Roman Empire for alleged sedition and is believed by Christians to have been crucified and resurrected.[4] Jews who believed him to be the Messiah were originally called Nazarenes and later they were known as Jewish Christians (the first Christians).[5] Baháʼís,[6][7] Muslims,[8][9] and Christians[10] (including Messianic Jews[11]) believe him to be the Messiah.
* Dositheos the Samaritan (mid 1st century), Origen wrote that Dositheos wished to persuade the Samaritans that he was the Jewish Messiah. (Hom. xxv in Lucam; Contra Celsum, I, lvii).[12][13]
* Simon bar Kokhba, born Simon ben Koseva, (d. 135 AD) who led the apical Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire. For three years, bar Kokhba ruled as the nasi, or prince, of a semi-independent secessionist state in Israel. Some rabbinical scholars, including the great sage Akiva, proclaimed bar Kokhba as the Messiah. He died during the rebels' last stand at the fortress of Betar, after which the rebellion was brutally crushed and the land was left largely decimated, cementing both the slowly growing Jewish diaspora and the schism between Christianity and Judaism.
* Shlomo Molcho, born Diogo Pires (1500–1532) in Lisbon to parents who were Jewish converts to Christianity. After meeting David Reuveni, he left his post as secretary to the king's council, traveled to Damascus, Safed, Jerusalem and later Solonika, where he studied kabbalah and became a mystic. He was eventually reunited with Reuveni, declared his aspirations as messiah, and was finally burned at the stake by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, for refusing to convert back to Christianity.[14][15][16]
* Sabbatai Zevi (alternative spellings: Shabbetai, Sabbetai, Shabbesai; Zvi, Tzvi) (b. at Smyrna 1626;[17] d. at Dulcigno (present day Ulcinj) 1676), a Sephardic ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turkey), who was active throughout the Ottoman Empire and claimed to be the long-awaited Messiah. He was the founder of the Sabbatean movement, whose followers subsequently were to be known as Dönmeh "converts" or crypto-Jews[18] \- one of the most important messianic movements, whose influence was widespread throughout Jewry.[citation needed] His influence is felt even today. After his death, Sabbatai was followed by a line of putative followers who declared themselves Messiahs and are sometimes grouped as the "Sabbethaian Messiahs".[19]
* Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994), seventh Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch; some of his followers believed that he was the Jewish Messiah during his lifetime, and some of them continue to believe so after his death in 1994.[20][21][22] The number of believers grew in size after his death.[23] Some of his followers believe that Schneerson never died.[20][21][22] While Schneerson remained cryptic about such assertions, many of his followers do believe he was the Jewish Messiah.[20][21][22] The issue remains controversial within both the Chabad movement and the broader Jewish community.[24][25]: 420 [26][27]

## Christian messiah claimants

[edit]

Sun Myung Moon Simon Magus

See also: Antichrist, List of people claimed to be Jesus, and Second Coming

The Christian Bible states that Jesus will come again in some fashion; various people have claimed to, in fact, be the Second Coming of Jesus. Others have styled themselves new messiahs under the umbrella of Christianity. The Synoptic gospels (Matthew 24:4, 6, 24; Mark 13:5, 21-22; and Luke 21:3) all use the term pseudochristos for messianic pretenders.[28]

* Ann Lee (1736–1784), a central figure to the Shakers,[29] who thought she "embodied all the perfections of God" in female form and considered herself in 1772 to be Christ's female counterpart.[30]
* John Nichols Thom (1799–1838), who had achieved fame and followers as Sir William Courtenay and adopted the claim of Messiah after a period in a mental institute.[31]
* Abd-ru-shin (Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, 18 April 1875 – 6 December 1941), founder of the Grail Movement.[32]
* Lou de Palingboer (Louwrens Voorthuijzen)[33] (1898-1968), a Dutch charismatic leader who claimed to be God as well as the Messiah from 1950 until his death in 1968.
* Ahn Sahng-hong (1918–1985), founder of the World Mission Society Church of God and worshiped by the members as the Messiah.[34]
* Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), founder and leader of the Unification Church established in Seoul, South Korea, who considered himself the Second Coming of Christ, but not Jesus himself.[35] It is generally believed by Unification Church members ("Moonies") that he was the Messiah and the Second Coming of Christ and was anointed to fulfill Jesus's unfinished mission.[35]
* Anne Hamilton-Byrne (born Evelyn Grace Victoria Edwards; 30 December 1921 – 13 June 2019), founder of The Family, Australia, claimed to have been the reincarnation of Jesus.[36]
* Cho Hee-seung [ko] (1931–2004), founder of the Victory Altar New Religious Movement, which refers to him as “the Victor Christ” and “God incarnated”. Died in the midst of a series of legal battles in which he was alternately convicted and acquitted on charges of fraud and instigation of the murders of multiple opponents.[37][38]
* Lee Man-Hee (born 15 September 1931), founder of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a new religious movement based in South Korea. Also known as The One Who Overcomes, he claims to be chosen by Jesus to be the next immortal savior of the world[39]
* Jung Myung-seok (born 1945), a South Korean who was a member of the Unification Church in the 1970s, before breaking off to found the dissenting group[40] now known as Providence Church in 1980.[41][42] He also considers himself the Second Coming of Christ, but not Jesus himself.[43] He believes he has come to finish the incomplete message and mission of Jesus Christ, asserting that he is the Messiah and has the responsibility to save all mankind.[44] He claims that the Christian doctrine of resurrection is false but that people can be saved through him. Jung Myung-seok was convicted of rape by the Supreme Court of Korea and spent 10 years in prison (2008-2018). He was again indicted in South Korea on October 28, 2022, for sexually assaulting two female followers between 2018 and 2022.[45]
* Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël "messenger of the Elohim" (born 1946), a French professional test driver and former car journalist who became founder and leader of UFO religion the Raël Movement in 1972. Raëlism teaches that life on Earth was scientifically created by a species of extraterrestrials, which they call Elohim. He claimed he met an extraterrestrial humanoid in 1973 and became the Messiah.[46] He then devoted himself to the task he said he was given by his "biological father", an extraterrestrial named Yahweh.[47]
* José Luis de Jesús Miranda (1946–2013), founder and leader of Creciendo en Gracia sect (Growing In Grace International Ministry, Inc.), based in Miami, Florida. He was a Puerto Rican preacher who had claimed to be both "the Man Jesus Christ" and the Antichrist at the same time, and exhibited a "666" tattoo on his forearm, a behavior his followers also adopted. He has referred to himself as Jesucristo Hombre, which translates to "Jesus Christ made Man". He claimed he was indwelled with the same spirit that dwelled in Jesus. Miranda died on August 14, 2013, due to liver cancer.
* Inri Cristo (born 1948) of Indaial, Brazil, a claimant to be the second Jesus.[48]
* Apollo Quiboloy (born 1950), Filipino founder and leader of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ religious group, who claims that Jesus Christ is the "Almighty Father," that Quiboloy is "His Appointed Son," and that salvation is now completed. He proclaims himself to be the "Appointed Son of God". On November 11, 2021, Quiboloy was indicted by the United States Department of Justice for allegedly coercing girls and young women to have sex with him. These victims were threatened with eternal damnation and physical punishment if they didn’t comply. The indictment also included allegations that Quiboloy ran a sex-trafficking operation. Girls as young as 12 were allegedly trafficked through the fraudulent California charity “Children’s Joy.”[49] Quiboloy was arrested by Philippine police on September 8, 2024.[50]
* Brian David Mitchell (born 1953) was convicted May 25, 2011, for the 2002 kidnapping and rape of Elizabeth Smart. He believed himself the fore-ordained angel born on earth to be the Davidic "servant" prepared by God as a type of Messiah who would restore the divinely led kingdom of Israel to the world in preparation for Christ's Second Coming. Mitchell's belief in such an end-times figure – also known among many fundamentalist Latter Day Saints as "the One Mighty and Strong" – appeared to be based in part on a reading of the biblical Book of Isaiah by the independent LDS Hebraist, Avraham Gileadi, with whom Mitchell became familiar as a result of his previous participation in Sterling Allan's American Study Group.[51][52]
* Ante Pavlović (1957–2020), a Croatian self-proclaimed chiropractor who claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ.[53]Ante Pavlović on his horse.
* Sergey Torop (born 1961), who started to call himself "Vissarion", founder of the Church of the Last Testament and the spiritual community Ecopolis Tiberkul in Southern Siberia.
* Alan John Miller (born 1962), founder of Divine Truth, a new religious movement based in Australia. Also known as A.J. Miller, he claims to be Jesus of Nazareth through reincarnation. Miller was formerly a Jehovah's Witness.[54]
* Yang Xiangbin (born 1973) is believed to be the identity of a woman referred to as "Lightning Deng" and "the female Christ" in the literature of Eastern Lightning, a Chinese Christian new religious movement. Zhao Weishan, founder and administrative leader of Eastern Lightning, claimed that Yang revealed herself to be the Second Coming of Christ in 1992.[55]

## Muslim messiah claimants

[edit]

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

See also: List of Mahdi claimants

Islamic tradition has a prophecy of the Mahdi, who will come alongside the return of Isa (Jesus).

* Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India (1835–1908), proclaimed himself to be both the expected Mahdi and Messiah.[56][57] Crucially, however, he claimed that Jesus had died a natural death after surviving crucifixion,[56] and that prophecies concerning his future advent referred to the Mahdi himself bearing the qualities and character of Jesus rather than to his physical return alongside the Mahdi. He founded the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1889 envisioning it to be the rejuvenation of Islam. Adherents of the Ahmadiyya movement claim to be strictly Muslim, but are widely viewed by other Muslim groups as disbelievers and heretics.[58][59]
* Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (born 25 November 1941) is a spiritual leader and founder of the spiritual groups Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam[60][61] and RAGS International, now known as Messiah Foundation International.[62][63][64] MFI reports that Shahi claimed to be the Mahdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar.[65][66][67][68][69][70] Shahi has been also accused of claiming the status of a prophet.[71][72] Shahi's supporters claim that his face became prominent on the Moon, Sun, nebula star and the Black Stone in Mecca, and that these appearances are signs from God that Gohar Shahi is the awaited Mahdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar.[73] According to MFI's website, Shahi claimed to be Awaited Messiah, but not the second coming of Jesus and claim that Jesus has also returned to support the Shahi.[74] Gohar Shahi claimed to have met with Jesus in America.[75] Mainstream Muslim scholars have rejected Shahi's claims, and condemned his teachings as blasphemous.[76]

## Zoroastrian messiah claimants

[edit]

* Bahram Chobin, after he usurped the throne of the Sassanian Empire, declared himself to be the Messiah in the midst of the eschatological times of the late 6th century AD[77]

## Multiple messiah claimants

[edit]

This list features people who are said, either by themselves or their followers, to be the messianic fulfillment of two or more religious traditions.

* Baháʼu'lláh, Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri, (1817–1892), born Shiite, adopting Bábism in 1844 (see Báb or "Ali Muhammad Shirazi" in List of Mahdi claimants). In 1863, Baháʼu'lláh claimed to be the promised one of all religions, and founded the Baháʼí Faith.[78] He claimed to be the fulfillment of the prophecies of the coming of a promised figure found in all 6 of the major prophetic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism and Buddhism) as noted in the authoritative history of the Baha'i Faith.[79] He also claimed to be the prophet predicted by the Báb as "He Whom God shall make manifest"[80] His followers have also claimed that his coming fulfilled prophecies of various smaller (often native) religions.

## Other messiah claimants

[edit]

This list features people who have been said, either by themselves or their followers, to be some form of a messiah that do not easily fit into Jewish, Christian, Islamic or other eschatological traditions.

* Cyrus Teed (1839–1908), proponent of the Hollow Earth theory who created a distinct model in which the world is an inverted sphere that the rest of universe can be seen from by looking inward and claimed to be the incarnation of Jesus Christ after being electrically shocked when attempting to practice alchemy with doses of magnetism during 1869.[81]
* Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) of Nazi Germany has been claimed by some practitioners of Esoteric Nazism as the messiah, including Colin Jordan,[82] Savitri Devi,[83] and Miguel Serrano.[84] Hitler had never claimed to be the messiah during his life, having had changing views towards religion.
* Chris Cantelmo (1962–2019), founder and leader of Cantelmoism, a religious movement based on the belief that one can contact God using the drug DMT.[85]
* Nirmala Srivastava (1923–2011), guru of Sahaja Yoga, proclaimed herself to be the Comforter promised by Jesus (that is, the incarnation of the Holy Ghost / Adi Shakti).[86]
* World Teacher, a being claimed to be the Theosophical Maitreya and the Messiah (promised one) of all religions. He is said to have descended from the higher planes and manifested a physical body in early 1977 in the Himalayas, then on 19 July 1977 he is said to have taken a commercial airplane flight from Pakistan to England. He is currently said to be living in secret in London;[87][88][89] promoted by New Age activist Benjamin Creme and his organization, Share International (See Maitreya (Benjamin Creme)).
* David Icke (born 29 April 1952), New Age conspiracy theorist who came up with the idea of Draconians[90] and claimed to be the "son of God" during an interview on Wogan in 1991.[91]
* Ezra Miller (born 1992), an actor, has claimed to be Jesus, the next Messiah, and the devil, saying they would bring about a Native American revolution.[92]

## See also

[edit]

* List of avatar claimants
* List of Buddha claimants
* List of founders of religions
* List of Mahdi claimants
* List of people who claimed to be Jesus
* False prophet
* Jerusalem syndrome
* List of people who have been considered deities
* Messiah complex
* Messianic Age
* Messianism

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Messiah: "In Isa. xlv. 1 Cyrus is called "God's anointed one," ...:
2. ^ "Messiah: Alexander as Messiah". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
3. ^ William Horbury, Markus Bockmuehl, James Carleton Paget: Redemption and resistance: the messianic hopes of Jews and Christians in antiquity Page 294 : (2007) ISBN 978-0567030443
4. ^ Professor Bart D. Ehrman, The Historical Jesus, Part I, p. 2, The Teaching Company, 2000.
5. ^ Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C., eds. (31 December 2000). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Amsterdam University Press. p. 709\. ISBN 978-90-5356-503-2.
6. ^ The Ministry of Christ bahaiteachings.org. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
7. ^ Jesus Christ in the Bahá'í Writings bahai-library.com. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
8. ^ "People of the Book". Islam: Empire of Faith. PBS. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
9. ^ "Quran 3:46-158". Archived from the original on 2015-05-01.
10. ^ Christianity at a glance BBC. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
11. ^ Cohn-Sherbok, Dan (2000). "Messianic Jewish theology". Messianic Judaism. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 170\. ISBN 978-0-8264-5458-4. OCLC 42719687. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
12. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05136c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Dositheans]: "Origen states that "Dositheus the Samaritan, after the time of Jesus, wished to persuade the Samaritans that he himself was the Messias prophesied by Moses" (Contra Celsum, VI, ii); He also wrote that Dositheus applied Deuteronomy 18:15 to himself, and compares him with Theudas and Judas the Galilean.
13. ^ See "Contra Celsum," i. 57, vi. 11; in Matth. Comm. ser. xxxiii.; "Homil." xxv. in Lucam; De Principiis, iv. 17.
14. ^ "The False Prophet and the Pope – The Story of Shlomo Molcho". Museum of the Jewish People. 2018-05-13. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
15. ^ "And May the Messiah Come Soon - Judaic Treasures". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2022-03-27.
16. ^ Benmelech, Moti (2016). Shlomo Molcho : the life and death of Messiah Ben Joseph (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Yad Ben Zvi.
17. ^ Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah: 1626–1676, pp. 103–106 has a whole discussion of the historical probabilities that he was really born on the 9th of Av, which according to Jewish tradition is the date of the destruction of both Temples and is also the date 'prescribed' in some traditions for the birth of the Messiah.
18. ^ Rifa N. Bali (2008), pp. 91-92
19. ^ Gershom Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah: 1626-1676, Routledge Kegan Paul, London, 1973 ISBN 0-7100-7703-3, American Edition, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1973 ISBN 0-691-09916-2 (hardcover edn.); Gershom Scholem, "Shabbetai Zevi," in Encyclopaedia Judaica, Second Edition, Farmington Hills, Michigan, 2007, vol. 18, pp. 340–359. ISBN 978-0-02-865946-6.
20. ^ a b c Magid, Shaul (3 July 2019). "Another Side of the Lubavitcher Rebbe". Tablet Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
21. ^ a b c Nadler, Allan (1 June 2010). "A Historian's Polemic Against 'The Madness of False Messianism'". The Forward. New York City. ISSN 1051-340X. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
22. ^ a b c Sadka, Saul (10 February 2007). "The Lubavitcher Rebbe as a God". Haaretz. Tel Aviv. Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
23. ^ "Psak Din Rebbe Moshiach cropped". failedmessiah.typepad.com. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
24. ^ Berger, David (2008). The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the scandal of orthodox indifference (1. pbk. ed.). London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. ISBN 978-1-904113-75-1. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
25. ^ Telushkin, Joseph (2014). Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-231900-5.
26. ^ Messianic Excess, Rabbi Prof. David Berger (Yeshiva University), The Jewish Week, June 25, 2004
27. ^ Peter Schäfer, Mark R. Cohen, Editors (1998) Toward the Millennium: Messianic Expectations from the Bible to Waco BRILL, ISBN 9789004110373, p. 399
28. ^ Harris Lenowitz The Jewish Messiahs: From the Galilee to Crown Heights age 31 (2001) ISBN 978-0195148374
29. ^ Campion, Nardi Reeder (1976), Ann the Word: The Life of Mother Ann Lee, Founder of the Shakers, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, ISBN 978-0-316-12767-7
30. ^ "Mother Ann Lee (section Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Ann Lee)". Answers.com. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
31. ^ Rogers, P. G. (1961), Battle in Bossenden Wood, Oxford University Press
32. ^

* Wilson, Bryan R. (1975). The Noble Savages: The Primitive Origins of Charisma and Its Contemporary Survival. University of California Press. p. 114\. ISBN 978-0-520-02815-9. "... but their prominence and relative success when compared with such figures as Louwrens van Voorthuizen (Lou) in Holland, Georges Roux in France, and Oskar Ernst Bernhardt in Germany and Austria, all of whom claimed to be the messiah—is striking."
* Janson, Marloes (2021). "6. Beyond Religion. The Grail Movement and Eckankar". Crossing Religious Boundaries: Islam, Christianity and 'Yoruba Religion' in Lagos, Nigeria. The International African Library. Cambridge University Press. p. 154\. doi:10.1017/9781108979160.007. ISBN 978-1-108-83891-7. LCCN 2020055275. Retrieved 2024-07-06. "The Grail Movement was founded by the self-proclaimed Messiah Oskar Ernst Bernhardt..."

33. ^ Wilson 1975, p. 114.
34. ^ "World Mission Society Church of God". English.watv.org. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
35. ^ a b Moon At Twilight: Amid scandal, the Unification Church has a strange new mission, Peter Maass New Yorker Magazine, September 14, 1998. "Moon sees the essence of his own mission as completing the one given to Jesus--establishing a "true family" untouched by Satan while teaching all people to lead a God-centered life under his spiritual leadership."..."Although Moon often predicts in his sermons that a breakthrough is near, Moffitt realizes that Moon may not come to be seen as the messiah in his lifetime."
36. ^ "Inside The Family, the bizarre and brutal Australian cult". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
37. ^ Lee, Su-ki (2004-06-20). "Cult leader linked to killings dies". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
38. ^ Cho, Hyun (2021-02-10). "Controversial religious group at epicenter of COVID-19 cluster in Bucheon". english.hani.co.kr. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
39. ^ "Coronavirus: South Korea sect leader to face probe over deaths". BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
40. ^ Luca, Nathalie (March 2002). "After the Moon sect: South Korea and indoctrination through the sacred game of football". CNRS. Archived from the original on 2005-10-19. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
41. ^ "Guru said to have raped prospective brides before mass weddings". Asahi Shimbun. 3 August 2006.
42. ^ "Concerns raised about cult led by fugitive". Asahi Shimbun. 28 July 2006.
43. ^ "Claims sect using social groups to recruit members". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2001-03-10. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
44. ^ "Suspect of Corrupt Cult Founder Arrested in China". The Korea Times. 2007-05-13. Archived from the original on 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
45. ^ "Cult Leader Extradited to Korea". The Korea Times. 2008-02-21. Archived from the original on 2008-04-01. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
46. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design.
47. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design; 290-1.
48. ^ "Summary of INRI CRISTO's life". Archived from the original on June 6, 2008.
49. ^ "Kingdom of Jesus Christ | Kingdom Doctrines | Holy One". Archived from the original on September 10, 2009.
50. ^ Argosino, Faith (2024-09-08). "Apollo Quiboloy has been arrested – DILG chief Abalos". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
51. ^ Duffy, John-Charles (October 15, 2003). "The Making of Immanuel: Brian David Mitchell and the Mormon Fringe". Sunstone magazine. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013.
52. ^ Manson, Pamela; Neugebauer, Cimaron (December 3, 2010). "Mitchell defense rests in Smart kidnap case". Salt Lake Tribune. p. 6.
53. ^ "Umro samoprozvani kiropraktičar Ante Pavlović". www.index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2022-08-23.
54. ^ Reid, Poppy (2020). "Australian Cults: The Grim, The Bad And The Ugly - Pt. Two, Divine Truth". au.rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
55. ^ McCoy, Terrence (October 13, 2014). "The murderous Chinese cult that thinks Jesus has returned — as a Chinese woman". The Washington Post.
56. ^ a b Andrea Lathan (2008) ‘The Relativity of Categorizing in the Context of the Aḥmadiyya’ Die Welt des Islams, 48 (3/4): 376
57. ^ Gualtieri, Antonio R. (1989). Conscience and Coercion: Ahmadi Muslims and Orthodoxy in Pakistan. Guernica Editions. p. 20\. ISBN 978-0-920717-41-7.
58. ^ "Who are the Ahmadi?". BBC News. 28 May 2010. Archived from the original on 30 May 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
59. ^ Burhani, Ahmad Najib (2013). When Muslims are not Muslims: the Ahmadiyya community and the discourse on heresy in Indonesia. Santa Barbara, California: University of California. ISBN 9781303424861.
60. ^ "Messiah Foundation International Site about Shahi". Messiah Foundation International. Retrieved March 13, 2010.
61. ^ "Website from Pakistan Sector". goharshahi.pk. Archived from the original on October 22, 2010. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
62. ^ Gabbatt, Adam (28 September 2015), "Apocalypse now and again … your choice of dates for the end of the world", The Guardian, retrieved 1 October 2015
63. ^ End of the world: The apocalypses that await us if we make it through today, 7 October 2015, retrieved 7 October 2015
64. ^ End Of The World 2015: NASA Slams Conspiracy Theorists' Apocalypse Threats, Says No Scientific Basis For Imminent Mass Destruction, 1 October 2015, retrieved 2 October 2015
65. ^ Structure and objective of the Mehdi Foundation and the perception of this movement in Pakistan (PDF), 5 December 2008, retrieved 9 October 2009
66. ^ "Jail upon burning the Pakistani Passports". British Broadcasting Cooperation (Urdu). 25 April 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
67. ^ "Jail upon burning the Pakistani Passports page 2". British Broadcasting Cooperation (Urdu). 25 April 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
68. ^ "Structure and objective of the Mehdi Foundation and the perception of this movement in Pakistan" (PDF). 5 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
69. ^ "Jail upon burning the Pakistani Passports". British Broadcasting Cooperation (Urdu). 25 April 2007. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
70. ^ "Jail upon burning the Pakistani Passports page 2". British Broadcasting Cooperation (Urdu). 25 April 2007. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
71. ^ "Gohar Shahi, chief of Anjuman-e-Sarferoshan-e-Islam". Karachi News. Karachi. DAWN. 18 November 1997.
72. ^ Ardeshir Cowasjee (10 February 2002). "The Man in the Moon". Dawn newspaper. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
73. ^ "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices by United States of America". U.S. Department of State. 23 February 2003. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
74. ^ "About Imam Mehdi". Retrieved 13 July 2013.
75. ^ "Return of Lord Jesus: Lord Jesus meets Lord Gohar Shahi in America". Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
76. ^ "Pakistan's Supreme Court upholds ban on a Shahi disciple's book". The Daily Times. 8 July 2004. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
77. ^ Stephen Shoemaker, Imperial Eschatology in Late Antiquity and Early Islam, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018, pp. 108-110
78. ^ Balyuzi, H.M. (1963). Baháʼu'lláh (1973 ed.). Oxford: George Ronald. pp. 11–12, 33–34\. ISBN 0-85398-014-4. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
79. ^ Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1944, pgs 94-97
80. ^ Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1944, pg 97
81. ^ Simon, Matt (Jul 2, 2014). "Fantastically Wrong: The Legendary Scientist Who Swore Our Planet Is Hollow". WIRED. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
82. ^ "Colin Jordan: Leading figure in British fascism". The Independent. 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
83. ^ Smith, Blake (2016-12-17). "Writings of French Hindu who worshipped Hitler as an avatar of Vishnu are inspiring the US alt-right". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
84. ^ Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas (2003). Black sun: Aryan cults, esoteric Nazism, and the politics of identity (1. publ. in paperback ed.). New York, NY: New York Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-3155-0.
85. ^ "How One Man Tried to Build a DMT-Based Cult on Reddit and Lost Everything". vice.
86. ^ Judith Coney, Sahaja Yoga: Socializing Processes in a South Asian New Religious Movement (1999) p27 "She began her mission of salvation in earnest, establishing a reputation as a faith healer ... Then, on December 2nd, 1979, in London, she unequivocally declared her divinity to her followers: '[Today] is the day I declare that I am the One who has to save the humanity. I declare, I am the one who is Adi Shakti, who is the Mother of all the mothers, who is the Primordial Mother, the Shakti, the purest desire of God, who has incarnated on this Earth to give meaning to itself...' Since then, she is most often understood by her followers to be the Devi, the Goddess of Indian mythology, returned to save the world."
87. ^ "Share International on the Reappearance of Maitreya the World Teacher". share-international.org. Archived from the original on November 2, 2014.
88. ^ "Share International magazine July / August 2009 issue". www.share-international.org. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014.
89. ^ Niebuhr, Gustav. "New Millennium, Great Expectations." The New York Times, July 20, 1996
90. ^ Robertson, David (September 2013). "David Icke's Reptilian Thesis and the Development of New Age Theodicy". Retrieved 2021-09-19.
91. ^ "The Day David Icke Told Terry Wogan 'I'm the Son of God'". The Telegraph. Apr 29, 2016. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
92. ^ Miller, Julie (September 18, 2022). "Ezra Miller's "Messiah" Delusions: Inside The Flash Star's Dark Spiral". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on September 18, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022.

## Other sources

[edit]

* Hogue, John Messiahs: The Visions and Prophecies for the Second Coming (1999) Elements Books ISBN 1-86204-549-6
* Jewish Encyclopedia, a public-domain work hosted at www.jewishencyclopedia.com/ Archived 2011-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
* Andreas Plagge: "Oskar Ernst Bernhardt". In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Band 22, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-133-2, Sp. 120–122, [1].
* Lothar Gassmann: Zukunft, Zeit, Zeichen. Aufruf zur Wachsamkaeit, Verlag für Reformatorische Erneurung, Kaiserstr.78, D-42329 Wuppertal, 103 Seiten, [2].
* Patrick Diemling: Neuoffenbarungen Religionswissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf Texte und Medien des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, Universitätsverlag Potsdam, 2012, [3].