Top 10 Crazy People Who Claimed to Be Jesus Reincarnate
A man dubbed ‘the guru in bling’ allegedly convinced up to 400 men to cut off their own testicles so it would bring them closer to God . Ouch.
And he is not the craziest one. There are some notable individuals who are firm in their claim that they are the Second Coming of Christ. Crazy, right?
Here goes the Top 10...
10.William W. Davies
Claims of divinity are not just a modern-day phenomena though – no, William W. Davies is just one example of a 19th Century “reincarnated Jesus”.
Well, more precisely, Davies – who believed he was the archangel Michael and had been Adam, Abraham and David in various previous lives – claimed his eldest son Arthur was the reincarnated Jesus Christ, while he asserted his second child, David, was God The Father.
Davies created the Kingdom of Heaven group – a Latter Day Saint schismatic group – in Washington, USA, in 1867 and ran the church until 1881. Arthur came to be known as “Walla Walla Jesus”, in reference to the town in which he was born.
However, Davies was sued by the church’s 43 members for $3,200 in 1880 when both his children died of diphtheria and he dissolved the church as a result.
9.David Koresh
Arguably the most infamous on the list, David Koresh (A.K.A. Vernon Howell) claimed to be the “final prophet” for the Branch Davidians religious sect in Texas.
In 1983, Koresh stated that he was “the son of God, the Lamb”, although he never directly claimed to being Jesus Christ himself.
At his Mount Carmel Center, Koresh gathered a loyal group of followers to the sect and created a “doctrine of the House of David” by which to lead them. Sexual and child abuse claims surfaced, however, with Koresh supposedly taking 13-year-old Michelle Jones as his “spiritual wife”.
Koresh preached apocalypticism, millenarianism and polygamy during his lifetime – and created a cult following, carefully declaring himself as “the son of God” but not actually Jesus Christ reincarnate himself.
8.José Luis de Jesús Miranda
What makes Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda different from the other people discussed in this list is the fact that besides claiming that he was the Messiah, Miranda also declared that he was the Antichrist. He even had the number 666, a symbol of the Antichrist, tattooed on his arm.
Miranda was the leader of the Growing in Grace church, a movement that is based in Miami, Florida. He was a very charismatic person who held a strong influence on his congregation. In 2007, 30 members of Miranda’s church decided to have the number 666 tattooed on their bodies as a sign of their devotion and love to him.
Aside from claiming that he was the Messiah and the Antichrist in one person, Miranda also taught the doctrine that sin and Satan don’t exist. According to him, “his followers…literally can do no wrong in God’s eyes.” Miranda received the divine revelation that he was both the Antichrist and the Messiah in 1973.
In 2013, his wife of seven years, Josefina Torres, revealed via Youtube that Miranda had already died due to liver cirrhosis.
7.Krishna Venta
What is more outlandish than claiming you are the Son of God? Well, claiming that you are the Son of God reincarnate who led a convoy of rocket ships to Earth from the extinct alien planet of Neophrates, that’s what.
Yes, Krishna Venta – A.K.A. Francis Herman Pencovic – founded the Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith and Love (WKFL) Fountain of the World Cult in California in 1940s – a group who believed he was the returned Messiah, and whose membership required all earthly possessions to be given to the church’s leader.
Despite leading the WKFL in fighting wildfires, offering shelter to the needy and feeding the homeless, Venta was killed by two disgruntled former members. Peter Duma Mamenoff and Ralph Muller claimed Venta embezzled cult’s funds and also slept with both of their wives.
The suicide bombing killed Venta in December 1958, but it did not lead to the end of the church – with a branch lasting in Alaska until the mid-1970s.
6.Allan John Miller
Not only does Alan John Miller claim to be Jesus Christ reincarnate, his wife Mary Suzanne Luck also believes she is Mary Magdalene returned to earth.
Miller began the Divine Truth religion in Australia in 2007 when the former Jehovah’s Witness “remembered” his (Jesus’) crucifixion from more than 2,000 years previously – oh, and he met Plato, Gandhi, Moses, Aristotle, Socrates, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the afterlife.
The 52-year-old believes it is his duty to spread the “Divine Truth” message, and he travels around Australia preaching – as well as claiming that 100-metre-deep water will submerge the nation and wipe it out at some point soon.
Although insisting he does not desire worship, Miller has a website and YouTube channel on which he preaches his and “Mary Magdalene’s” message.
5.Wayne Bent
Wayne Bent, also known as Michael Travesser to his followers, is the leader of the Lord Our Righteousness Church, a cult based in New Mexico. Before Bent founded this group in 1987, he served as a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor. It was in 2000 that, according to Bent, God showed him a divine revelation that he was Jesus Christ.
Since 2008, Wayne Bent has been in prison, serving a 10-year prison sentence for molesting a 16-year-old girl. Bent has admitted to having intercourse with his female followers, but despite this, he continues to claim to be the Messiah and holds on to the belief that he is innocent and that the government is persecuting him.
He has likened his situation to the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. According to Bent, just like the true Messiah, people are creating false charges to destroy him. Bent will be eligible for parole in 2017.
4.Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop
On August 18, 1990, a certain man named Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop received a revelation from God, a revelation that changed his life and the 10,000 people who believe in his teachings. Also known as Vissarion or the Teacher, Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and has founded his own church called the Church of the Last Testament.
Vissarion and 4,000 of his devoted followers live in Petropavlovka—a man-made utopia where consuming meat, drinking, smoking, and cursing is prohibited. Petropavlovka is a self-sufficient community that surprisingly doesn’t use money for survival.
3.Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez
In 2011, Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez tried to assassinate President Obama by firing nine shots at the White House. Fortunately, no one got hurt—Obama and his wife were at San Diego at the time. Five days after the failed assassination, Ortega-Hernandez was caught in western Pennsylvania.
So, why did this man try to kill the President? Apparently, Ortega-Hernandez believed that Obama was the Antichrist. Aside from that, he also strongly believed that he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ whose mission was to stop the Antichrist from ruling the world. He even made a video declaring this delusional claim.
In the video recorded by a student from the Idaho State University, Ortega-Hernandez declared, “It’s not just a coincidence that I look like Jesus. I am the modern day Jesus Christ that you all have been waiting for.”
2.Inri Cristo
Another supposed reincarnation of Jesus Christ still around today; Brazilian Inri Cristo announced in 1969 that he was “luri de Nostradamus”, or a holy figure.
Claiming he always follows the “powerful voice” in his head, Cristo (original name Álvaro Theiss) realised he was “Christ” as a 21-year-old and gathered a group of followers, who now assert that Brazil’s capital city Brasilia is the New Jerusalem of the Apocalypse prophesised in the Book of Ezekiel.
The voice also supposedly told Cristo “I am your Father” – very Stars Wars-esque – and he subsequently set off on a pilgrimage across 27 countries, before eventually being expelled from the US, Venezuela and the UK. The French, however, announced that “Christ is back on Earth”.
Arrested on more than 40 occasions for his outlandishly provocative statements and bizarre dress sense, Cristo is still alive and preaching in South America.
1.David Shayler
David Shayler – former MI5 agent and whistleblower, convicted criminal. Oh, and Jesus Christ himself – or so he claims.
The 49-year-old has never been far from controversy, having been convicted in 2002 of sharing state secrets with the British press, as well as having joined the 9/11 Truth Movement – a group which believes the September 11 attacks were partially fraudulent. But it is his claims of divinity which are perhaps most outlandish.
Writing in an article for the Daily Mail in 2007, Shayler claimed he was Jesus reincarnate. He said: “I am the messiah and hold the secret of eternal life.”
Shayler believes he was crucified with a crown of thorns and nails in a past life – although he also has a transvestite “alter ego” who he claims is called “Delores Kane”.
Although Shayler and his ex-partner Annie Machon have attempted to play down his claims to divinity – stating the British press have misrepresented him – the former MI5 agent has posted several YouTube videos once again asserting he is Jesus.
