"Many will come in my name..." (Part 1)

According to Christian tradition, the gospels of Matthew (24:5) and Mark (13:6) state that Jesus said, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." The gospel of Luke (21:8) extends the description, stating that Jesus also said, "And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them."   

Many people have claimed to be the Christian Messiah over the many centuries since Jesus purportedly ascended to Heaven following his crucifixion and burial. Various verses scattered throughout the New Testament of the Christian Bible tell mankind that Jesus will return to Earth again in some sort of similar fashion. Per Wikipedia.com, the following people listed below have either claimed to be Jesus Christ or have styled themselves as a new messiah under the umbrella of Christianity. This partial list of Messiah claimants includes...

• Simon Magus (early 1st century), was a Samaritan, and a native of Gitta. He was a religious figure and a convert to Christianity, baptised by Philip the Evangelist, whose later confrontation with Peter is recorded in Acts 8:9–24. Simon Magus was considered a god in Simonianism; he "darkly hinted" that he himself was Jesus Christ, calling himself the Standing One. The sin of simony, or paying for position and influence in the church, is named for Simon.

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• Dositheos the Samaritan (mid 1st century), 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 Messiah, applying Deuteronomy 18:15 to himself, and he compares himself with Theudas and Judas the Galilean.

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• 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. She rose to prominence by urging other believers to preach more publicly concerning the imminent second coming, and to attack sin more boldly and unconventionally. She was frequently imprisoned for breaking the Sabbath by dancing and shouting, and for blasphemy. Ann Lee preached to the public and led the Shaker church at a time when few women did either.  

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• Bernhard Müller (c/1799–1834) was a German Christian mystic and alchemist of uncertain origins, ho claimed to be the Lion of Judah and a prophet in possession of the Philosopher's stone. He established several communal communities across 19th century America in search of more followers. He died of yellow fever in 1834.

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• Arnold Potter (1804–1872) was a self-declared Messiah and a leader of a schismatic sect in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was baptized by missionaries of the LDS church in 1839. By 1856, Potter received a call to serve as a missionary in Australia from LDS Church president, Brigham Young. He later claimed that during his trip to Australia, he underwent a "purifying, quickening change" whereby his own spiritual body, called "Christ", entered into his body and he became "Potter Christ, Son of the living God". During his time in Australia, Potter wrote a book which he said was dictated to him by angels; it was described by Potter as the book from which all people were to be judged at the Final Judgment.

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• Hong Xiuquan (1814–1864), Hakka Chinese; claimed himself to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ; started the Taiping Rebellion and founded the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace. Xiuquan had a series of dreams, that several years later, he would interpret to mean that God the Heavenly Father (whom he identified with Shangdi from Chinese tradition) wanted him to rid the world of demon worship. This interpretation led him to believe that he was a Chinese son of God. After coming to this conclusion Hong began destroying idols and enthusiastically preaching his interpretation of Christianity. He committed suicide before the fall of Tianjing (Nanjing) in 1864. 

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• Bahá'u'lláh [aka: Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri] (1817–1864), born Shiite, adopting Bábism later in life, he claimed to be the promised one of all religions, and founded the Bahá'í Faith in 19th-century Persia. He claimed to be the prophetic fulfilment of Bábism, a 19th-century outgrowth of Shí‘ism, but in a broader sense claimed to be a messenger from God referring to the fulfilment of the eschatological expectations of Islam, Christianity, and other major religions.  Bahá'u'lláh was exiled for his teachings from Persia to the Ottoman Empire and died while officially still a prisoner.

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• Jacobina Mentz Maurer (1841 or 1842-1874) was a German-Brazilian woman who lived and died in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. She emerged as a messianic prophetess, and later declared the very reincarnation of Jesus Christ on earth by her German-speaking community called "Die Muckers"; her enemies referred to the cult as "Die Spotters". After a number of deadly confrontations with outsiders, Jacobina was shot to death together with many of her followers by the Brazilian Imperial Army. 

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• 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. 

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• Cyrus Reed Teed (October 18, 1839 - December 22, 1908) was a U.S. eclectic physician and alchemist turned religious leader and messiah. In 1869, claiming divine inspiration, Dr. Teed took on the name Koresh and proposed a new set of scientific and religious ideas he called Koreshanity. In the 1870s, he founded the Koreshan Unity, a commune whose rule of conduct was based on his teachings. After 1894 the group concentrated itself in the small Florida town of Estero, seeking to build a "New Jerusalem" in that locale, peaking at 250 residents during the first decade of the 20th Century. Following Teed's death late in 1908 the group went into decline, finally disappearing in 1961.

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• Father Divine (George Baker) (c/1880–September 10, 1965), an African American spiritual leader from about 1907 until his death who claimed to be God. Also known as Reverend Major Jealous Divine, this self-proclaimed prophet was also known as "the Messenger" early in his life. He founded the International Peace Mission movement, formulated its doctrine, and oversaw its growth from a small and predominantly black congregation into a multiracial and international church.

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• 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'. Throughout his works there are hundreds of techniques and exercises that supposedly are of help in the development of psychic powers, for example leaving the dense physical body at will (astral projection). By 1972, he referenced that his death and resurrection would be occurring before 1978. Samael Aun Weor died on December 24, 1977.

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• Ahn Sahng-hong (1918–1985), founder of the World Mission Society Church of God and worshiped by the members as the messiah. He was a Korean Christian minister and first founded the Witnesses of Jesus Church of God. Shortly after his death in 1985 a schism took place dividing Witnesses of Jesus Church of God into two sects, New Covenant Passover Church of God and what is today known as World Mission Society Church of God. Both organizations claim him as their founder; New Covenant Passover Church of God regard Ahn as a teacher; World Mission Society Church of God regard Ahn as God.

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• 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. Although 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' unfinished mission.

For a continuing list of Christian Messiah claimants, please visit... "Many will come in my name..." (Part 2)