This is a list of notable people who have been said to be amessiah, 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.

InJudaism, "messiah" originally meant "a divinely appointed king" or "anointed one", such as Aaron the brother of Moses,^{[citation needed]}David,Cyrus the Great^[1] orAlexander the Great.^[2] Later, especially after the failure of theHasmonean Kingdom (37 BC) and theJewish–Roman wars (AD 66–135), the figure of theJewish messiah was one who would deliver theJews fromoppression and usher in anOlam Haba ("world to come") orMessianic Age.However the term "false messiah" was largely absent fromrabbinic literature. The first mention is in theSefer 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 waspersecuted by theRoman Empire for allegedsedition and is believed byChristians to have beencrucified andresurrected.^[4] Jews who believed him to be the Messiah were originally calledNazarenes and later they were known asJewish Christians (the first Christians).^[5]Baháʼís,^[6][7]Muslims,^[8][9] andChristians^[10] (includingMessianic Jews^[11]) believe him to be the Messiah.
• Dositheos the Samaritan (mid 1st century),Origen wrote that Dositheos wished to persuade theSamaritans that he was theJewish Messiah. (Hom. xxv in Lucam;Contra Celsum, I, lvii).^[12][13]
• Simon bar Kokhba, born Simon ben Koseva, (d. 135 AD) who led the apicalBar Kokhba revolt against theRoman Empire. For three years, bar Kokhba ruled as thenasi, or prince, of a semi-independent secessionist state in Israel. Some rabbinical scholars, including the great sageAkiva, proclaimed bar Kokhba as the Messiah. He died during the rebels' last stand at the fortress ofBetar, after which the rebellion was brutally crushed and the land was left largely decimated, cementing both the slowly growingJewish diaspora and theschism between Christianity and Judaism.
• Shlomo Molcho, born Diogo Pires (1500–1532) inLisbon to parents who wereJewish converts to Christianity. After meetingDavid Reuveni, he left his post as secretary to the king's council, traveled toDamascus,Safed,Jerusalem and laterSolonika, where he studiedkabbalah and became amystic. He was eventually reunited with Reuveni, declared his aspirations as messiah, and was finally burned at the stake by theHoly 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 dayUlcinj) 1676), aSephardic ordainedrabbi fromSmyrna (nowİzmir, Turkey), who was active throughout theOttoman Empire and claimed to be the long-awaited Messiah. He was the founder of theSabbatean movement, whose followers subsequently were to be known asDönmeh "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 ofChabad Lubavitch; some of his followersbelieved 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]}

The Christian Bible states thatJesus 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.TheSynoptic gospels (Matthew 24:4, 6, 24; Mark 13:5, 21-22; and Luke 21:3) all use the termpseudochristos for messianic pretenders.^[28]

• Ann Lee (1736–1784), a central figure to theShakers,^[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 theGrail Movement.^[32]
• Lou de Palingboer (Louwrens Voorthuijzen)^[33] (1898-1968), aDutchcharismatic 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 theWorld Mission Society Church of God and worshiped by the members as the Messiah.^[34]
• Sun Myung Moon (1920–2012), founder and leader of theUnification Church established inSeoul,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 theMessiah 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 ofThe Family, Australia, claimed to have been the reincarnation ofJesus.^[36]
• Cho Hee-seung [ko] (1931–2004), founder of theVictory 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 ofShincheonji Church of Jesus, a new religious movement based inSouth 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), aSouth Korean who was a member of theUnification Church in the 1970s, before breaking off to found the dissenting group^[40] now known asProvidence 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 ofresurrection 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 asRaël "messenger of the Elohim" (born 1946), aFrench professional test driver and former car journalist who became founder and leader ofUFO religion theRaël Movement in 1972. Raëlism teaches thatlife on Earth was scientifically created by a species ofextraterrestrials, which they callElohim. 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 namedYahweh.^[47]
• José Luis de Jesús Miranda (1946–2013), founder and leader ofCreciendo en Gracia sect (Growing In Grace International Ministry, Inc.), based inMiami,Florida. He was aPuerto 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 asJesucristo 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) ofIndaial,Brazil, a claimant to be the second Jesus.^[48]
• Apollo Quiboloy (born 1950), Filipino founder and leader of theKingdom 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 thefore-ordained angel born on earth to be theDavidic "servant" prepared by God as a type ofMessiah who would restore the divinely ledkingdom ofIsrael to the world in preparation for Christ's Second Coming. Mitchell's belief in such anend-times figure – also known among manyfundamentalist Latter Day Saints as "theOne Mighty and Strong" – appeared to be based in part on a reading of the biblicalBook of Isaiah by the independentLDSHebraist,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, and would soon become president of Croatia.^[53]

   

• Sergey Torop (born 1961), who started to call himself "Vissarion", founder of theChurch of the Last Testament and the spiritual communityEcopolis Tiberkul inSouthern Siberia.
• Alan John Miller (born 1962), founder ofDivine Truth, a new religious movement based inAustralia. Also known as A.J. Miller, he claims to be Jesus of Nazareth through reincarnation. Miller was formerly aJehovah'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 ofEastern 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]

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

• Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ofQadian, India (1835–1908), proclaimed himself to be both the expected Mahdi andMessiah.^[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 theAhmadiyya 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 asdisbelievers andheretics.^[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 asMessiah Foundation International.^[62][63][64] MFI reports that Shahi claimed to be theMahdi,Messiah, andKalki Avatar.^{[65][66][67][68][69][70]} Shahi has been also accused of claiming the status of aprophet.^[71][72] Shahi's supporters claim that his face became prominent on the Moon, Sun, nebula star and theBlack Stone in Mecca, and that these appearances are signs from God that Gohar Shahi is the awaitedMahdi,Messiah, andKalki Avatar.^[73] According to MFI's website, Shahi claimed to be Awaited Messiah, but not the second coming ofJesus and claim that Jesus has also returned to support the Shahi.^[74] Gohar Shahi claimed to have met withJesus inAmerica.^[75]Mainstream Muslimscholars have rejected Shahi's claims, and condemned his teachings asblasphemous.^[76]

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

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), bornShiite, adoptingBábism in 1844 (seeBáb or "Ali Muhammad Shirazi" inList of Mahdi claimants). In 1863, Baháʼu'lláh claimed to be the promised one of all religions, and founded theBaháʼí 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.

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 theHollow 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 practicealchemy with doses of magnetism during 1869.^[81]

• Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) ofNazi Germany has been claimed by some practitioners ofEsoteric Nazism as the messiah, includingColin Jordan,^[82]Savitri Devi,^[83] andMiguel Serrano.^[84] Hitler had never claimed to be the messiah during his life, having hadchanging 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 drugDMT.^[85]
• Nirmala Srivastava (1923–2011),guru ofSahaja Yoga, proclaimed herself to be theComforter promised by Jesus (that is, the incarnation of the Holy Ghost /Adi Shakti).^[86]
• World Teacher, a being claimed to be theTheosophical Maitreya and theMessiah (promised one) of all religions. He is said to have descended from thehigher planes and manifested a physical body in early 1977 in theHimalayas, then on 19 July 1977 he is said to have taken a commercialairplane flight fromPakistan toEngland. He is currently said to be living in secret inLondon;^[87][88][89] promoted by New Age activistBenjamin Creme and his organization,Share International (SeeMaitreya (Benjamin Creme)).
• David Icke (born 29 April 1952),New Age conspiracy theorist who came up with the idea ofDraconians^[90] and claimed to be the "son of God" during an interview onWogan in 1991.^[91]
• Ezra Miller (born 1992), an actor, has claimed to be Jesus, the next Messiah, and thedevil, saying they would bring about a Native American revolution.^[92]

• 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

• Hogue, JohnMessiahs: The Visions and Prophecies for the Second Coming (1999) Elements BooksISBN 1-86204-549-6
• Jewish Encyclopedia, a public-domain work hosted atwww.jewishencyclopedia.com/Archived 2011-06-28 at theWayback 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].
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