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Joseph C. Dylkes, also known as the Leatherwood God, was a messianic figure in the early settlement of the Ohio Country in the United States. Very little is known about Dylkes. Details about his birth, as well as his whereabouts following his mysterious disappearance, are apocryphal.
Dylkes achieved notoriety in August 1828, at a camp meeting near a chapel known as the Leatherwood Church in Salesville, Ohio. On a Sunday afternoon, the United Brethren minister John Crum was preaching to a large congregation when a voice shouted "Salvation" followed by a strange sound, similar to the snort of a horse. [1]
Everyone was taken by surprise and turned to see a stranger dressed in a black broadcloth suit, frock coat, white cravat, and yellow beaver hat. He appeared to be between the ages of 45 and 50 and wore long black hair. [1]
The stranger was hosted by some members of that congregation. He attended various religious meetings, and sometimes preached. Displaying knowledge of the Bible, he started to declare himself a celestial being, and finally claimed he was the Messiah come to establish a kingdom that would never end. His assertion of immortality was bolstered by claims that no one could harm or even touch him. [1]
Some families accepted his claims and became his followers, stirring controversy in the Ohio valley. A mob came to a religious service in the home of a Dylkes follower to have him arrested. [1]
Dylkes was taken before the local Squire to be charged but was released on the grounds that it "was not a crime to be a god." Dylkes took refuge in a farm belonging to one of his followers and ultimately declared he was going to Philadelphia to establish a "New Jerusalem." During the trip he disappeared without a trace. [1]
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of mashiach, messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a mashiach is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil.
Messianic Judaism is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism.
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Black Hebrew Israelites are a new religious movement claiming that African Americans are descendants of the ancient Israelites. Some sub-groups believe that Native and Latin Americans are descendants of the Israelites as well. Black Hebrew Israelites combine elements to their teaching from a wide range of sources to varying degrees. Black Hebrew Israelites incorporate certain aspects of the religious beliefs and practices of both Christianity and Judaism, though they have created their own interpretation of the Bible, and other influences include Freemasonry and New Thought, for example. Many choose to identify as Hebrew Israelites or Black Hebrews rather than Jews in order to indicate their claimed historic connections.
The black church is the faith and body of Christian denominations and congregations in the United States that minister predominantly to African Americans, as well as their collective traditions and members. The term "black church" can also refer to individual congregations.
Al-Masih ad-Dajjal, otherwise referred to simply as the Dajjal, is an evil figure in Islamic eschatology who will pretend to be the promised Messiah and later claim to be God, appearing before the Day of Judgment according to the Islamic eschatological narrative. The word Dajjal is not mentioned in the Quran, but he is mentioned and described in the ḥadīth literature. Like in Christianity, the Dajjal is said to emerge out in the east, although the specific location varies among the various sources. The Dajjal will imitate the miracles performed by ʿĪsā (Jesus), such as healing the sick and raising the dead, the latter done with the aid of devils (shayāṭīn). He will deceive many people, such as weavers, magicians, half-castes, and children of fornication.
William Bickerton was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement after the 1844 succession crisis. In 1862, Bickerton became the founding president of the church now known as The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite), which is one of many churches that claim to be a continuation of the Church of Christ founded by Joseph Smith in 1830.
Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi is a spiritual leader and founder of the spiritual movements RAGS International and Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam.
Marcelino Manuel da Graça, better known as Charles Manuel "Sweet Daddy" Grace, or Daddy Grace, was the founder and first bishop of the predominantly African-American denomination, the United House of Prayer For All People. He was a contemporary of other religious leaders such as Father Divine, Noble Drew Ali, and Ernest Holmes. Many of his followers claimed miraculous acts of faith healing while attending services and others saw his ministry as a sign from God of the imminent return of Jesus Christ.
John de Ruiter is a Canadian spiritual leader and author who conducts meetings in Edmonton, Alberta and abroad. He operates a centre called the College of Integrated Philosophy and conducted his seminars and lectures from the Oasis Centre in west Edmonton from 2007 to 2021, when it was sold to the Aga Khan Foundation for $6,650,000.
Emmanuel Odumosu known predominantly by his sobriquet Jesu Oyingbo which means “Jesus of Oyingbo” was a religious sect leader who claimed he was Jesus Christ returned. He founded the Universal College of Regeneration in Lagos. A self-proclaimed messiah, his personal beliefs included liberal sexual rights and capital accumulation. Sect members worked in various businesses of the movement establishing a self-contained economy within the movement.
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