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Occasionally, the most impressionable person in a cult turns out to be its leader. When someone convinces an entire following that God has chosen him as His prophet and bestowed upon him divine powers, it’s not always an act of deceit. Some truly believe they possess supernatural abilities.
This is when things can become truly perilous. Testing these claimed powers can result in catastrophic outcomes.
10. The Prophet Who Cut a Man’s Throat and Swore He Could Revive Him
In 2014, Muhammad Sabir managed to convince a group of followers in Pakistan that he was a prophet with miraculous abilities. He persuaded them that he had control over death—and was so convincing that he eventually began to believe it himself.
When Sabir requested that someone from his congregation undergo a 'death and rebirth' experience, his follower, Muhammad Niaz, eagerly volunteered. In front of a captivated crowd, Niaz allowed Sabir to tie him to a table before Sabir slit his throat.
As Sabir recited the sacred words, the crowd held its breath, anticipating Niaz's miraculous resurrection. However, when Sabir commanded Niaz to rise, nothing occurred. For a long, tense moment, everyone stood still, trying to make sense of the situation. Then, realizing his powers were a fantasy, Sabir fled the scene in a panic.
An enraged crowd chased Sabir down, eventually handing him over to the authorities, where he was arrested for murder. Despite this, Niaz's family continued to believe in Sabir’s spiritual claims. Niaz's sister remarked, 'Why should I mourn when I know that my brother is in heaven? He will be rewarded for his devotion to the spiritual leader in the afterlife.'
9. The Tantric Who Attempted to Kill a Man with Black Magic on Live Television
Pandit Sharma called himself India's most powerful tantric. He claimed to have the ability to use black magic to make almost anything occur, and he genuinely believed in his powers. When skeptic Sanal Edamaruku dared him to use his magic to kill him live on television, Sharma accepted the challenge.
The two stood before a live studio audience while Sharma chanted incantations and splashed water on Edamaruku's face. When that had no effect, Sharma resorted to moving a knife around Edamaruku's body, pressing his fingers to his head, writing Edamaruku's name on paper, and burning it. However, all he succeeded in doing was making Edamaruku laugh.
After two hours of futile attempts, Sharma gave up. He claimed Edamaruku must be under the protection of a powerful god, but Edamaruku calmly responded, 'No, I’m an atheist.'
Edamaruku believed he had exposed a charlatan, but as the session ended, he noticed Sharma sitting in the corner of the room, looking deflated and puzzled. It made Edamaruku reconsider, realizing that Sharma might not have been a fraud after all. 'Perhaps he truly believed,' Edamaruku later wrote, 'that he could kill me.'
8. The Preacher Who Believed He Was Immune to Snake Venom
Kentucky preacher Jamie Coots believed that God had granted him divine protection from snakebites, and he made this part of his ministry. He would stand before his congregation holding snakes, telling them that the Bible instructs all Christians to 'take up serpents.'
The snakes, however, didn’t always cooperate. He was bitten nine times, but each time he survived, attributing it to God's divine intervention. His faith in God's protection was so strong that when a woman in the congregation was bitten, he forbade anyone from taking her to the hospital. Tragically, she died right there on the church floor.
Coots believed this was due to her lack of faith—until he received his tenth and final snakebite in 2014. Still confident that God would heal him, he let his congregation chase away the ambulance that arrived to assist. But this time, God didn’t intervene. Within an hour, Coots passed away.
Despite this, Coots's congregation’s faith remained intact. His son, Cody, has taken over his father's role, and like his father, insists on handling rattlesnake bites without medical assistance, claiming, 'It’s the word of the Lord.'
7. The Pastor Who Killed a Woman with a Speaker
In 2016, a self-proclaimed prophet from South Africa assured his followers that if Jesus could walk on water, then they too could accomplish anything through faith. To demonstrate this, he set out to prove it.
He instructed a young woman from the praise team to lie down in front of the congregation, then had his ushers place a heavy PA speaker on her chest. He promised she would not die, claiming that God would ensure her survival. He then climbed onto the speaker himself, encouraging the church to marvel at how the woman didn't even make a sound of discomfort.
When the speaker was removed, they discovered the tragic reason for her silence: She had died. The weight of the speaker had crushed her ribs, and she had passed away almost instantly.
The pastor, however, claimed no responsibility. He told the police that the woman’s death occurred because she had 'little faith.' He insisted it was her fault for failing to 'withstand such a simple task.'
6. The Preacher Who Believed God Would Handle His Taxes
William Miller was certain the world would end on October 22, 1844. He believed the American colonists had been brought to the New World to prepare for God’s kingdom, and that Jesus was about to return. And he wasn’t alone in his conviction—he had a devoted following of believers.
Of course, the world didn’t end in 1844. However, one of Miller’s followers, Peter Armstrong, refused to give up on his faith. He became convinced that Jesus hadn’t returned because the Americans had failed to build an earthly sanctuary for His return. So, he spent every last penny to purchase 181 acres of land in Pennsylvania and invited Jesus to move in.
To ensure the land truly belonged to God, Armstrong signed the title over to 'Almighty God, who inhabiteth Eternity, and His heirs in Jesus Messiah.' But when the U.S. government came to collect property taxes, they found that God wasn’t paying—and they didn’t exactly accept Armstrong’s explanation that God was exempt from paying taxes.
The government eventually forced Armstrong to sell the land to cover his unpaid taxes. The 'Holy Land' was put up for sale again, as God had not taken care of His tax obligations.
5. The Prophet Who Took on a Pride of Lions in a Fistfight
A South African preacher, Alec Ndiwane, was reportedly visiting Kruger National Park in 2016 when he suddenly believed the Holy Spirit had granted him the strength of Samson. He claimed to have been given the power to kill a lion with his bare hands—and he intended to prove it.
Ndiwane allegedly spotted a pride of lions feeding on an impala and declared that he would take them down. He then opened the car door, stepped out, and began charging directly at the lions.
The entire pride of lions stopped eating and charged toward Ndiwane. In what seemed like a brief moment of clarity, he changed his mind and tried to re-enter the car. However, lions are quicker than South African preachers, and they overtook him.
Ndiwane probably would have been killed if not for a park ranger who scared the lions away with warning shots. Despite the rescue, Ndiwane was left severely injured and disoriented. After the incident, he was left more confused than anything.
Trying to make sense of what had happened, he reportedly told the press, 'I thought the Lord wanted to use me to show His power over animals.'
4. The Bishop Who Paid a Man to Pretend to Be Dead
In 2016, Nigerian bishop Emmanuel Esezobor allegedly caused the death of a man while attempting to stage a miracle. According to the man’s family, Esezobor paid him 500,000 Nigerian nairas to lie in a coffin and play dead until he was called upon. The plan was for the man to rise in front of the congregation and demonstrate Esezobor's power over life and death.
The man agreed to the arrangement, but things took a tragic turn when they planned a little too far ahead. The coffin Esezobor placed him in was airtight, and while waiting for his signal, the man ran out of oxygen and suffocated inside.
When the moment arrived, and Esezobor ordered the man to rise, he did not move—because he had actually passed away.
3. The Faith Healer Who Pretended to Cure Polio
Jack Coe, an American faith healer, traveled the country setting up tents and preaching about the healing power of faith. For years, people trusted his claims—until one fateful incident in 1955, when he nearly caused the death of a three-year-old boy.
The boy’s parents had brought him to Coe in Miami, hoping he could cure their child’s polio. Coe was certain he could help and instructed the boy to remove his leg braces and walk. He then told the congregation to celebrate, claiming the boy had been healed.
However, the boy was not cured. Still suffering from polio, attempting to walk without his braces only made his condition worse. He was now in constant pain and more ill than before.
Coe was arrested and charged with practicing medicine without a license. But in Florida, faith healers were exempt from such laws, and the case was dismissed. Coe seemed to escape unscathed—until something occurred that seemed like divine intervention.
Soon after the case was dismissed, Coe contracted polio himself. Within a few weeks, he succumbed to the very disease he had falsely claimed to heal. Perhaps, in some strange twist, miracles do happen after all.
2. The Prophet Who Buried Himself Alive
In 2015, Zimbabwean prophet Shamiso Kanyama was convinced that evil spirits had cursed a family’s home, leading them into a streak of bad luck. To fix their misfortunes, Kanyama believed the only solution was for him to die. He intended to cross into the underworld, where he would remove the spirits from the home.
Kanyama ordered five of his followers to dig a pit outside the house and bury him alive. He promised them that once buried, he would gain the power to expel the evil forces and restore peace to the family’s home.
A concerned neighbor, who still had a sense of reason, tried to stop the burial. But Kanyama shouted at the man, telling him he was disturbing his angels, and insisted his followers bury him alive, no matter the objections.
And so they did. The followers buried their prophet in the pit and waited for him to complete his journey in the afterlife. When they unearthed the pit, they discovered Kanyama’s lifeless body, motionless at the bottom.
1. The Mutt Chief Who Thought He Would Be Resurrected
Ganeshyogi Maharaj, from Mayurshwar, India, was convinced that he had the power to cheat death. To his followers, he had already proven his abilities. They had witnessed him drink poison and let himself be bitten by snakes, and each time, he survived.
But in 2014, Maharaj declared he would perform his greatest miracle yet. He would die in front of his followers, journey to the afterlife, and after three days, return to them, resurrected. The crowd watched in anticipation as he consumed 200 milliliters of insecticide and collapsed, apparently dead. They prayed and waited for his resurrection throughout the night.
But he never returned. Despite their prayers, Maharaj remained dead, and over time, his body began to decay.
The followers still refused to let the authorities bury him. It took doctors performing ECG tests to confirm that Maharaj was indeed clinically dead and would not be resurrecting before they finally convinced the followers to allow him to be laid to rest.
