List of people who have claimed to be Jesus

This is a list of notable people who have made statements claiming to be the reincarnation or incarnation of Jesus Christ, or the Second Coming of Christ from Heaven in some aspect.
Claimants for being Jesus
Views about the nature of the Second Coming of Jesus (Luke ) vary among Christian denominations. Muslims believe that (Jesus) will return at a time close to the end of the world.
Ancient claimants
* Jesus of Nazareth (c. 5BC - c. 30 AD)
Medieval claimants
* Adalbert, a bishop who claimed miraculous powers circa 744, he also claimed to have a letter from Christ and gained many followers, he was excommunicated by Pope Zachary.
Nineteenth century
* John Nichols Thom (1799-1838), Cornish tax rebel who claimed to be the "saviour of the world" and the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and his body temple of the Holy Ghost in 1834. He was killed by British soldiers at the Battle of Bossenden Wood, on May 31, 1838 in Kent, England.
* William W. Davies (1833-1906), leader of a Latter Day Saint schismatic group called the Kingdom of Heaven located in Walla Walla, Washington from 1867 to 1881. He taught his followers that he was the archangel Michael, who had previously lived lives as the biblical Adam, Abraham, and David. When his son Arthur was born on 11 February 1868, Davies declared that the infant was the reincarnated Jesus Christ. When Davies's second son, David, was born in 1869, he was declared to be God the Father.
* Arnold Potter (1804-1872), Schismatic Latter Day Saint leader; he claimed the spirit of Jesus Christ entered into his body and he became "Potter Christ" Son of the living God, he died in the attempt to ascent into heaven.
* Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), born Shiite, adopted Bábism later in 1844, he claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment and promised one of all major religions and founded the Bahá'í Faith in 1866. Followers of the Bahá'í Faith believe that the fulfillment of the prophecies of the second coming of Jesus, as well as the prophecies of the 5th Buddha Maitreya and many other religious prophecies, were begun by the Báb in 1844 and then by Bahá'u'lláh. They commonly compare the fulfillment of Christian prophecies to Jesus' fulfillment of Jewish prophecies, where in both cases people were expecting the literal fulfillment of apocalyptic statements.
Twentieth century
* Father Divine (George Baker) (1880-1965), an African American spiritual leader who founded the International Peace Mission movement from about 1907 until his death and claimed to be God.
* Haile Selassie I (1892-1975), the Rastafari movement which emerged in Jamaica during the 1930s believes he is the Second Coming (although he himself did not encourage this belief). He embodied this when he became Emperor of Ethiopia n 1930, perceived as confirmation of the return of the Messiah in the prophetic Book of Revelation in the New Testament but is also expected to return a second time to initiate the apocalyptic day of judgment. He is also called Jah Ras Tafari, is often considered to be alive by Rastafari movement members.
* Juanita García Peraza (1897-1970), founder of the "Mita congregation" in 1940, the only Protestant religion of Puerto Rican origin. They claimed that the "Spirit of Life" gave Peraza the new name of "Mita". According to the Mita faith, Mita was the incarnation of the Holy Ghost on earth.
* Krishna Venta (1911-1958), born Francis Herman Pencovic in San Francisco, founded the WKFL (Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love) Fountain of the World cult in Simi Valley, California in the late 1940s. In 1948 he stated that he is Christ, the new messiah and who claimed to have led a convoy of rocketships to Earth from the extinct planet Neophrates. He died on 10 December 1958 after being suicide bombed by two disgruntled former followers who accused Venta of mishandling cult funds and been intimate with their wives.
* Charles Manson (1934-), leader of the "Manson family," who ordered his followers to kill in preparation for the end of the world in 1967, believing the murders of in 1969 were intended to precipitate an apocalyptic race war. He also claimed to be Satan.
* George Ernest Roux (1903-1981), the "Christ of Montfavet," founder of the Universal Christian Church in France 1952, now named Universal Alliance, claimed to be Jesus, then God, called the "Christ of Montfavet" or "Georges-Christ". He presented himself as a persecuted prophet to carry out the law of love unfulfilled by God's representatives including Jesus.
* Ernest Norman (1904-1971), an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Unarius Academy of Science in 1954, was allegedly Jesus in a past life and and his earthly incarnation was as an archangel named Raphiel. He claimed to be the reincarnation of other notable figures including Confucius, Mona Lisa, Benjamin Franklin, Socrates, Queen Elizabeth I, and Tsar Peter I the Great.
* Ahn Sahng-hong (1918-1985), a South Korean who founded the World Mission Society Church of God in 1964, who consider him the Second Coming of Jesus. The church believes that his wife Zahng Gil-Jah is "God the Mother," who they believe is referred to in the Bible as the New Jerusalem Mother Galatians , and that Ahn Sahng-Hong is God the Father
* Inri Cristo (1948-), a Brazilian astrologer who claims to be the second Jesus reincarnated in 1969, Brasília is considered by Inri Cristo and his disciples as the “New Jerusalem” of the Apocalypse.
* Billy Meier (1937), a Swiss citizen and self-proclaimed contactee of Pleiadian UFO aliens, who told "Billy" he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, whose "real" name was Jmmanuel in 1974.
* Jim Jones (1931-1978), founder of Peoples Temple, which started off as an offshoot of a mainstream protestant sect before becoming a personality cult as time went on. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus, Akhenaten, Buddha, Vladimir Lenin, and Father Divine in the 1970s. Organized a mass murder suicide at Jonestown, Guyana on 18 November 1978.
* Laszlo Toth (1940-), Hungarian-born Australian who claimed he was Jesus Christ as he vandalised with a geologist hammer in 1972.
* Ariffin Mohammed (1943-), also known as "Ayah Pin", the founder of the banned Sky Kingdom in Malaysia in 1975. He claims to have direct contact with the heavens and is believed by his followers to be the the incarnation of Jesus, as well as Shiva, and Buddha, and Muhammad.
* Yahweh ben Yahweh (1935-2007), born as Hulon Mitchell, Jr., a black nationalist and separatist who created the Nation of Yahweh in 1979 in Liberty City, Florida. His self-proclaimed name means "God, Son of God." He could have only been deeming himself to be "son of God", not God, but many of his followers clearly deem him to be God Incarnate. He allegedly orchestrated the murder of dozens of persons.
* Nirmala Srivastava (1923-), an Indian guru and goddess of Sahaja Yoga movement she founded, in 1979 Nirmala Srivastava declared herself to be the complete incarnation of the Shakti or the Comforter promised by Jesus ie the incarnation of the Holy Spirit to her devotees. She has also claimed to be Maitreya and the Mahdi.
* David Koresh (1959-1993), born Vernon Wayne Howell, was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect in Waco, Texas, proclaimed that he was "the Son of God, the Lamb" in 1983. In 1993 a raid by the U.S. BATF, and the subsequent siege by the FBI ended with Branch Davidian ranch burning, Koresh, 54 adults and 21 children were found dead after the fire.
* Hogen Fukunaga founded Ho No Hana Sanpogyo often called the "foot reading cult," in 1987 after an alleged spiritual event where he claimed to have realized he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and the Buddha.
* Marina Tsvigun (1960-), or Maria Devi Christos, is the leader of the Great White Brotherhood. In 1990 she met Yuri Krivonogov, the "Great White Brotherhood" founder, who recognized Marina as a new messiah and later married her, assuming in the sect the role of "John the Baptist", subordinate to Tsvigun.
* Sergei Torop (1961-), a Russian who claims to be "reborn" as Vissarion, Jesus Christ returned, which makes him not "God" but the "word of God." He founded the Church of the Last Testament and the spiritual community Ecopolis Tiberkul in Southern Siberia in 1990.
* David Icke (1952-), of Great Britain, writer, former footballer, journalist, BBC Sports presenter and Green Party spokesman. He described himself as "the son of God", and a "channel for the Christ spirit", and predicted Britain would be devastated by tidal waves and earthquakes in 29 April 1991.
* Shoko Asahara, (1955-), founded the controversial Japanese religious group Aum Shinrikyo "Supreme Truth" in 1984 in Japan. He declared himself "Christ", Japan's only fully enlightened master and the "Lamb of God". His purported mission was to take upon himself the sins of the world. He outlined a doomsday prophecy, which included a Third World War, and described a final conflict culminating in a nuclear "Armageddon", borrowing the term from the Book of Revelation . Humanity would end, except for the elite few who joined Aum.
* Mitsuo Matayoshi (1944-), a Japanese conservative politian, who in 1997 established the World Economic Community Party based on his conviction that he is the God and Christ. According to his program he will do the Last Judgment as Christ but within the current political system.
Twenty First century
* Wayne Bent (1941-), leader of the End of the World Cult, also known as Michael Travesser of the Lord Our Righteousness Church, also known as the Strong City Cult a religious community near Travesser Park, Union County, New Mexico originated in 2000. He claims; "I am the embodiment of God. I am divinity and humanity combined." He was convicted on 15 December 2008 of one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2008.
* Thomas Harrison Provenzano (1949-2000), an American convicted murderer who was possibly mentally ill. He compared his execution with .
* José Luis de Jesús Miranda (1941-), Puerto Rican founder, leader and organizer of Growing in Grace based in Miami, Florida, who claims that the resurrected Christ "integrated himself within me" in 2007.
Claimants for being siblings of Jesus
* Hong Xiuquan (1814-1864), claimed to have had a vision that he was the "younger brother" of Jesus Christ in 1836, who was sent to rid China of the corrupt Manchu Qing dynasty rulers. After this alleged vision he felt a duty to spread Christianity (in the form he had developed) and overthrow Qing's foreign rule. He formed an army that fought in the Taiping Rebellion, which ultimately caused the deaths of over 25 million people in 1851, conquering a large part of China and establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, before by defeat Imperial forces in 1864.
Claimants to being Christ/Messiah, but not Jesus
* Simon Magus, early 1st century, he was Samaritan, and a native of Gitta; he was considered a god in Simonianism, he "darkly hinted" that he himself was Christ, calling himself the Standing One.
* Dositheos the Samaritan, mid 1st century, he was one of the supposed founders of Mandaeanism. After the time of Jesus he wished to persuade the Samaritans that he himself was the Messiah prophesied by Moses. Dositheus pretended to be the Christ (Messiah), applying Deuteronomy to himself, and he compares him with Theudas and Judas the Galilean.
* Montanus (135-177), he claimed to be the promised Paraclete in the mid 2nd century mentioned in Gospel of John and would set up the New Jerusalem in the small town of Pepuza in Phrygia.
* Ann Lee (1736-1784), a central figure to the Shakers, who thought she "embodied all the perfections of God" in female form and considered herself to be Christ’s female counterpart in 1772.
* Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India (1835-1908), claimed to be the awaited Mahdi as well as (Second Coming) and likeness of Jesus the promised Messiah at the end of time, being the only person in Islamic history who claimed to be both. He claimed to be Jesus in the metaphorical sense; in character. He founded the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1889 envisioning it to be the rejuvenation of Islam, and claimed to be commissioned by God for the reformation of mankind. He declared that Jesus survived crucifixion and died a natural death having migrated towards the east.
* André Matsoua (1899-1942), Congolese founder of , proponents of which subsequently adopted him as Messiah in the late 1920s.
* Sun Myung Moon (1920-), founder and leader of the Unification Church established in Seoul, South Korea, who considers himself the Second Coming of Christ, but not Jesus himself in 1954. Although it is generally believed by Unification Church members () that he is the Messiah and the Second Coming of Christ and is anointed to fulfill Jesus' unfinished mission.
* Samael Aun Weor (1917-1977), born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, Colombian citizen and later Mexican, was an author, lecturer and founder of the 'Universal Christian Gnostic Movement', according to him, 'the most powerful movement ever founded'. By 1972, he referenced that his death and resurrection would be occurring before 1978.
* Claude Vorilhon now known as Raël "messenger of the Elohim" (1946-), a French professional test driver and former automobile journalist became founder and leader of UFO religion the Raël Movement in 1972, which 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. Then devoted himself to the task he said was given by his "biological father", an extraterrestrial named Yahweh.
* Jung Myung Seok (1945-), a South Korean who was a member of the Unification Church in the 1970s, before breaking off to found the dissenting group now known as Providence Church in 1980. He also considers himself the Second Coming of Christ, but not Jesus himself in 1980. 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. He claims that the Christian doctrine of resurrection is false but that people can be saved through him.
* Apollo Quiboloy (1950-), 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. Proclaims himself as the "Appointed Son of the God" not direct to the point as the "Begotten Son of the God" in 1985.
* Brian David Mitchell was born on October 18, 1953 in Salt Lake City, Utah, he believed himself the 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 which Mitchell became familiar from his former participation with Stirling Allan's American Study Group.)
* World Teacher (unknown), claims to be the Maitreya and promised one of all religions and is currently living in London since 19 July 1977; promoted by New Age activist Benjamin Creme and his organization, Share International.
==People named "Jesus Christ"==
* GG Allin (1956-1993), an American punk rocker, whose real name was Jesus Christ Allin and possessed a large cult following. He was given this messianic name because his father, Merle Colby Allin Sr., then 33 years old, told his wife, Arleta Gunther, then 20 years old, that Jesus Christ himself had visited him and told him that his newborn son would be a great and all powerful man in the vein of the Messiah.

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