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

Jewish messiah claimants

In Judaism, "messiah" originally meant "a divinely appointed king" or "anointed one", such as Aaron the brother of Moses, David, Cyrus the Great or Alexander the Great. Later, especially after the failure of the Hasmonean Kingdom (37 BC) and the Jewish–Roman wars (AD 66–135), the figure of the Jewish messiah was one who would deliver the Jews from oppression and usher in an Olam Haba ("world to come") or Messianic Age. However the term "false messiah" was largely absent from rabbinic literature. The first mention is in the Sefer Zerubbabel, from the mid-seventh century, which uses the term, mashiah sheker, ("false messiah").

Christian messiah claimants

The Christian Bible states that Jesus 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. The Synoptic gospels (Matthew 24:4, 6, 24; Mark 13:5, 21-22; and Luke 21:3) all use the term pseudochristos for messianic pretenders. • « Etwa seit 1923 spürte O. E. Bernhardt seinen besonderen religiösen Auftrag. Er betrachtete sich selbst als Gottesgesandten und als den verheißenen "Menschensohn", der das unvollkommene Werk des "Gottessohnes" Jesus Christus vollenden sollte. 1924 ließ er sich scheiden und begann wenig später mit der Veröffentlichung von Abhandlungen in der von ihm herausgegebenen Zeitschrift "Gralsblätter". Dabei nannte er sich "Abd-ru-shin". » (Plagge 2003: 120-122). • « Abd-ru-shin (= Oskar Ernst Bernhardt; 1875-1941), ein Deutscher, sah das Werk Jesu Christi als gescheitert an und verkündigte sich selbst als den „wahren Christus“, welcher der Menschheit die rettende „Gralsbotschaft“ übermittelt. » (Gassmann 1999). • « Das dreibändige 1926 erschiene Werk Im Lichte der Wahrheit – Gralsbotschaft von Abd-ru-shin ist eine Sammlung von 168 Vorträgen und enthält die Hauptgedanken des Mannes, der sich als „Menschensohn“82 verstand und in einer Pyramide auf dem Tiroler Vomperberg begraben ließ. » Diemling (2012: 153). • "EPILOGUE Abdruschin has now completed His Message to mankind. In him has arisen IMANUEL, the Envoy of God, the Son of Man, whose coming to judge and to save those who have not cut themselves adrift from salvation, was foretold by Jesus the Son of God in corroboration of the prophecies of the prophets of old. He carries the insignias of His high Office: the living Cross of the Truth radiating from Him and the Divine Dove above Him, the same in-signias as were borne by the Son of God. Awaken, oh man! For your spirit is asleep!"

• Abdruschin • -->

Muslim messiah claimants

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

Zoroastrian messiah claimants

Syncretic messiah claimants

This list features people who are said, either by themselves or their followers, to be the messianic fulfillment of two or more religious traditions, and are therefore classified as syncretic.

Other messiah claimants

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 Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.

Other sources