Michael Travesser, the american Messiah who prophesied the September 11 attacks
Michael Travesser was born Wayne Bent in 1941. He is the spiritual leader of the self-proclaimed cult, Strong City, which consists of about 77 people living in Travesser Park, near Travesser Creek in New Mexico as well as other devotees around the world.
Travesser claims that all his teachings have been given to him by God. He teaches that the Son of God is the archangel Michael. Michael first appeared in Jesus of Nazareth, making this his first coming. At his second coming, Michael manifested himself in Travesser. However, Travesser does not teach that he is the only person of this second coming. Instead, the Son of God will appear in all who "love his appearing" and will yield to his appearing in them, making them truly the Sons of God.
The group believes that Travesser prophesied the September 11, 2001 attacks. On September 10, 2001, he posted the following in his blog:
"You have gone far enough, and now I will show you who it is that rules in the heavens. You have built your Babylonish tower, but I will make the top to break off and its foundations to sink into the mire. You will see the stability of the sand you have built on. You will try everything to save it but it will not be saved."
Travesser's writings contain frequent injunctions against the nation and culture of the United States, which he considers to be decadent, if not outright evil.
December 15, 2007, to Travesser's followers, will constitute the end of the process in which they receive their reward from God which also includes the desolation of the earth.
Sun Myung Moon, the korean billionaire and Messiah who reformed Hitler and Stalin
The Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon (1920) is the founder of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, in Seoul, South Korea. Members call Rev. Moon "Father" (short for "True Father"). At the age of 40 and recently divorced, Moon married the teenage daughter (17 years old) of Mrs. Soon-ae Hong, who at the time did the cooking for the church. Many members were surprised and dismayed, as some believed that they had received revelations that they would be the 'bride of the Messiah'.
Moon arrived in the United States for the first time in 1965 and was considered by many to be manipulating young adults with heartwashing and brainwashing methods. The Unification Church became known for its mass weddings, or, as they called it, 'a blessing of couples'.
Moon reportedly spent a billion dollars from business-related sources to establish and support the influential conservative newspaper The Washington Times, which he called in 2002, 'the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world'
On 2004, Moon announced that he would save everyone on Earth as he had saved the souls of even such murderous dictators as Hitler and Stalin, who he claimed had received 'the Blessing' through him. Moon said the reformed Hitler and Stalin vouched for him from the spirit world, calling him 'none other than humanity's Savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent'.
Matayoshi Mitsuo, the japanese politician who is God and Jesus Christ
Matayoshi Mitsuo is an eccentric Japanese politician with the conviction that he is the God and Christ.
According to his program, he will do the Last Judgement as the Christ but the way to do this is totally within the current political system and its legitimacy. His first step as the Savior is to be appointed the prime minister of Japan. Then he will reform Japanese society and then the United Nations should offer him the honor of its General Secretary. Then Matayoshi Jesus will reign over the whole world with two legitimate authorities, not only religious but also political.
He has presented himself in many elections but he has not won yet. He has become well-known for his eccentric campaigns where he urges opponents to commit suicide by hara-kiri.
Sabbatai Zevi, the Jewish Messiah who converted To Islam
Leader of the largest messianic movement in Jewish history, Sabbatai Zebi was born in Smyrna (Turkey) in 1626. He "revealed" himself to a band of followers as the "true Messianic redeemer" designated by God to overthrow the governments of the nations and to restore the kingdom of Israel. His was expulsed from the city.
In Salonika, Sabbatai took the Torah as his "bride" with full Jewish ceremony, an act that also got him kicked out of that city too. He spurned his first two wives, divorcing them because, he said, he was waiting for God to "send him a bride". That bride was Sarah, a Polish prostitute who had long maintained that she was "destined" to marry the Messiah.
Back on Smyrna, he declared himself again as the expected Messiah in the synagogue, this time with the blowing of horns, and the multitude greeted him with: "Long live our King, our Messiah!" His popularity grew with incredible rapidity, as not only Jews but Christians also spread his story far and wide. His fame extended to all countries.
Sabbatai's message was anything but orthodox: he urged people to "free themselves of all inhibitions" and revel in life's pleasures. Sexual promiscuity and nudity were suddenly in fashion as virtues.
Yet, Sabbatai's time of glory was brief. He was arrested at sea by Turkish authorities who had heard rumors that he was conspiring to overthrow the sultan. Summoned before the sultan and ordered to choose between death by torture or conversion to Islam. Sabbatai renounced Judaism for the faith of Mohammed and lived well for a time, but his wanton sexual activity and erratic behavior eventually drew fire from Muslim authorities, who exiled him to the remote Albanian seaport of Dulcigno where he died in loneliness and obscurity.
Juhayman al-Otaibi, the Mahdi (Islamic Messiah) who seized the Grand Mosque in 1979
Juhayman al-Otaibi (1936 – 1980) was a Wahhabi militant who questioned Islamic leaders. He stated the necessity for the Muslims to overthrow their present corrupt rulers who are forced upon them and lack Islamic attributes "since the Quran recognizes no king or dynasty". He declared himself to be the Mahdi, the redeemer of Islam.
On November 20, 1979 the Grand Mosque in Mecca was seized by a well-organized group of 1,300 to 1,500 men under al-Otaibi's leadership. The siege lasted two weeks before Saudi Arabian special forces attempted to break into the Mosque. They employed many methods to break down the doors of the Mosque, including tanks, but failed in the end due to the doors' strength. It was General Zia-ul-Haq at that time who directed the Pakistan Army and who finally captured the mosque with the help of French paramilitary forces.
Upon entering the mosque, it was full of dead bodies and waste. The fleeing rebels tried to escape through water tunnels around the mosque, which were then flushed with water to bring the rebels out. 67 people were captured alive and later beheaded.
Henry Prince, the Anglican that was one in the flesh with Christ
Henry James Prince (1811–1899) was the founder of a British cult known as the Agapemonites. Ordained an Anglican minister in 1840 and after just three years, he became convinced of his own divinity, and in 1849 he established the "Abode of Love", on a 200-acre commune near Spaxton in Somerset.
"Look on me, I am one in the flesh with Christ. By me, and in me, God has redeemed all flesh from death, and brought the bodies of breathing men into the resurrection state." he told his followers, about 50 mostly middle-aged, middle-income folk, were charter members of the Abode of Love.
In 1856, Prince the Messiah (who was already married to a woman old enough to be his mother) took a virgin bride, claiming it was his religious destiny. It was supposedly a "purely spiritual union", but his followers were shocked when the young woman became pregnant.
The baby was denounced as the devil's offspring and grew up in the Abode as an outcast and an example of Satan's work. This led to rumors of orgies at Spaxton that caused sensation in the press, and outside contributions quickly dried up. Despite his claims of immortality, Prince died in 1899.
John Nichols Thom, the Cornish king of Jerusalem and Malta
John Nichols Thom (1799-1838) was a Cornish self-declared Messiah in the 19th century Cornwall. Thom came to public view in December 1832 when he tried to be nominated for parliament for Canterbury. He used a name Count Rothschild, lived in Rose Hotel and campaigned in a crimson velvet suit with gold lacings and carried a sword. When Thom received 374 votes, 1/5 of the vote, he began to call himself Sir William Percy Honeywood Courtenay of Powderham, the heir to the earl of Devon, the King of Jerusalem and Knight of Malta.
Thom was locked into the Barming Heath asylum in Kent. His father petitioned for his release. When Thom was eventually released 1838, he again assumed the mantle of Sir William Courtenay, declared himself "savior of the world" and became a wandering preacher. He again used his colorful costume, including an embroidered Maltese Cross and his sword that he claimed was Excalibur.
Thom gathered a following of more than hundred people and convinced them that their faith would make them invulnerable to steel and bullets. He also claimed that he could slay 10.000 men by hitting his left hand with his right and if he would be shot, he would come back to life three days later.
When Thom and his followers paraded in and around the countryside near Boughton, so authorities sent three constables to arrest him. Thom shot constable John Mears, mutilated the body with his blade and threw it into a ditch. The same day, authorities sent 100 soldiers of the 45th Foot regiment to village of Dunkirk to arrest Thom and his followers. Thom would have none of it and shot lieutenant Bennet who was leading his troops. Soldiers opened fire and killed Thom and nine of his followers.
Muhammad Ahmad, the Mahdi that lasted 6 months
Muhammad Ahmad ibn (1844-1885) was a Muslim religious leader, a faqir, in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. In 1881, Muhammad Ahmad proclaimed himself Al Mahdi al Muntazar, or "expected one", and started to raise an army. Mohammed Ahmed used a V-shaped gap in his teeth to prove he was the Mahdi.
With Sudan in his hands, the Mahdi formed a government. The Mahdiyah (Mahdist regime) imposed traditional Islamic laws. The Mahdi added to Islamic law the declaration that "Muhammad Ahmad is the Mahdi of God and the representative of His Prophet".
He died six months after his liberation of Khartoum, and the state he founded fell victim to colonial maneuverings that doomed it to reconquest in 1899.
Wackiest self-proclaimed Messiahs
