Top 10 Scariest Religious Prophecies
These religious prophecies will terrify you! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most terrifying predictions made by religious texts, or individuals considered by some to be religious prophets.
Transcript
00:00 "And out of the pit rose a great red dragon having seven heads.
00:04 That old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceived the whole world, was released."
00:11 Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:12 Today we're counting down our picks for the most terrifying predictions made by religious
00:16 texts or individuals considered by some to be religious prophets.
00:19 We'll be excluding prophecies like the 2012 Mayan phenomenon as well as those of Nostradamus
00:24 as they do not exactly qualify.
00:25 "We're fulfilling the prophecy."
00:27 "I hate this prophecy."
00:29 "So do I, but we have no choice."
00:33 Number 10.
00:34 The Three Secrets of Fatima
00:35 The story goes that the Virgin Mary visited three children, Lucia Santos, Francisco Marto,
00:40 and Jacinta Marto, six times throughout 1917 and shared with them three visions and prophecies.
00:46 These are now known as the Three Secrets of Fatima.
00:48 Perhaps the scariest was the second in which Mary supposedly promised a catastrophic global
00:53 war should people not cease offending God.
00:56 This is considered by some to be a reference to World War II, which broke out decades after
01:00 the prophecy was allegedly made.
01:02 Defenders argue that Mary predicted the war, while skeptics point out historic flaws in
01:05 the prophecy and the fact that this secret wasn't publicly shared until 1941, after
01:10 the war had already broken out.
01:12 "Portugal is Fatima, the apparitions, the priest, the shepherds."
01:16 "The secret of Fatima."
01:18 "That only the Pope could hear."
01:20 "Poor Canada, 1960."
01:23 Number 9.
01:24 Joanna Southcott
01:25 Born by a farmer, Joanna Southcott was an unassuming Englishwoman with a humble background.
01:29 After working as a shop girl and domestic servant, Southcott developed a religious fervor
01:33 and deemed herself the "Woman of the Apocalypse."
01:36 "In 1792, I was strangely visited by day and night, concerning what was coming upon
01:43 the earth."
01:50 She garnered about 100,000 followers by 1814, which was also the year she would supposedly
01:55 give birth to the new messiah.
01:57 Southcott announced that on October 19th of that year, she would birth the Shiloh mentioned
02:01 in the Book of Genesis, and with it would come the end of the world.
02:04 This obviously did not come to pass, and Southcott died two months later on December 26th.
02:09 Number 8.
02:10 Kalki
02:11 Apocalypse harbingers don't get much cooler than Kalki.
02:13 He is said to be the final incarnation of Vishnu, the main god of Vaishnavism.
02:17 According to that religion, our existence cycles through four ages, or yugas.
02:21 The worst of them all is the fourth, known as the Kali Yuga, which we're currently
02:25 living in.
02:26 Kalki is responsible for bringing the Kali Yuga to an end.
02:28 It is believed that he will eliminate all evil in the world while riding his white steed
02:32 and brandishing a sword of fire.
02:34 This will restart the yuga cycle and bring about the happiest of the four ages, the Satya
02:38 Yuga.
02:39 When this will happen is unclear, but the Kali Yuga is said to last 432,000 years.
02:44 Number 7.
02:45 Chentau
02:46 Born in Beijing in Taiwan, Chentau blended various religious influences including Buddhism,
02:50 Millennialism, and even everyone's favorite, Ufology, into one unique concoction.
02:55 The group moved to Garland, Texas in 1997, supposedly because Garland sounds like Godland.
03:01 They then made a highly publicized prophecy claiming that God would appear on TV and announce
03:05 his second coming.
03:15 This divine announcement was set for March 31st, 1998, and when that time came, the media
03:20 flocked to the group's Garland neighborhood in anticipation.
03:23 It was such an event that the city's police department had officers on standby should
03:26 things get out of hand.
03:33 Of course, God did not appear on our TVs, and Chentau essentially disbanded after their
03:37 very public embarrassment.
03:42 Number 6.
03:43 The Great Fire of London
03:44 Surely you've all heard of the demonic number 666.
03:46 While it's generally linked to the devil, its ominous origins can actually be traced
03:50 back to a vague figure in the Book of Revelations known only as "The Beast."
03:59 It is only through personal interpretation that scholars have linked the Beast to the
04:03 Antichrist.
04:04 The association of this number with the Beast led some religious figures to anticipate a
04:07 disaster of some kind in the year 1666, which indeed came to pass.
04:12 In early September of that year, a hellish fire raged through London.
04:16 While the death toll was relatively low, the fire destroyed most of the city and left it
04:20 an apocalyptic ruin.
04:22 Number 5.
04:23 Fresh Okhreti
04:24 Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion which could date as far back to the second millennium
04:29 BCE.
04:30 Their concept of the apocalypse is called Fresh Okhreti, and it sounds very scary indeed.
04:35 A giant battle between good and evil will erupt, and the savior figure, Sausiant, will
04:41 raise the dead.
04:42 The earth's natural metals will then be melted and made to flow throughout the world
04:46 like a molten river.
04:47 Everyone on earth, including the newly raised dead, will then walk through this river, with
04:51 the good being saved and the evil being burned alive.
04:54 Once all evil is extinguished from the material world, the river flows down to hell and destroys
04:59 the evil spirit, Angra Mainyu.
05:01 Number 4.
05:02 Montanism and New Jerusalem
05:04 Back in the middle second century in what is now Turkey, a man named Montanus began
05:08 spouting prophecies.
05:10 These eventually gave rise to his eponymous religion of Montanism.
05:13 The predictions offered by the religion were highly controversial, resulting in it being
05:17 deemed a heretical movement.
05:19 Montanism barred an apocalyptic event from the Book of Revelation, in which John of Patmos
05:23 stands on a mountaintop and watches New Jerusalem descend to earth.
05:26 Montanists believed that New Jerusalem would descend onto a high plain in Phrygia, now
05:30 in Turkey, where the survivors were expected to spend eternity with God.
05:34 Based on this belief, many abandoned their homes and moved to the area in anticipation
05:38 of the great event.
05:40 Number 3.
05:41 Yom Adin
05:42 A central tenet of the Islamic faith is that of Yom Adin, or Judgment Day.
05:46 The portents alone are terrifying enough.
05:48 A cunning figure called Al-Masih al-Dajjal will first kill those Muslims he can deceive,
05:53 while the tyrant Sufyani will harm women and children.
05:56 Subsequently, the sun will rise from the west and a fatal wind will blow, peacefully eliminating
06:00 the remaining believers.
06:01 "When sun rises in the west, sets in the east.
06:05 When the seas go dry, when the mountains blow in the wind, like leaves."
06:10 And that's when things get really scary.
06:12 The earth is completely destroyed, with the sun darkening, stars falling, and seas boiling.
06:16 The dead will then resurrect for God's judgment before proceeding to walk the bridge of Asirat.
06:21 The virtuous will easily cross into Jannah, or paradise, while the sinners fall to hell
06:25 below.
06:29 Number 2.
06:30 Ragnarok
06:31 Apocalyptic events don't get much more detailed than Ragnarok.
06:34 The foretold end times in Norse mythology.
06:37 It begins with a terrible winter that sends humanity into violent chaos, and it's followed
06:41 by the complete destruction of the world.
06:43 "Tremble before me Asgard, for I am your enemy."
06:49 The stars and sun will disappear, the mountains will fall, and the seas will rise and flood
06:53 the earth.
06:54 Meanwhile, an unimaginably massive wolf named Fenrir will run through the world with his
06:58 mouth open, devouring ground and sky alike.
07:02 The gods will then fight against these creatures, resulting in the demise of Odin, Thor, Loki,
07:06 and Heimdall, among others.
07:08 "And when Ragnarok comes, 800 warriors will march out of each door, shoulder to shoulder."
07:17 Following the apocalyptic fight, the ruined remains of the earth will fall into the sea,
07:21 and everything that we know will blink out of existence.
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07:40 Number 1.
07:41 The Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, the final installment
07:44 in the Christian Bible, is a remarkable work of apocalyptic literature that presents a
07:49 series of vivid prophecies regarding the end times.
07:59 It begins with the opening of seven seals, which reveal apocalyptic events such as a
08:03 disastrous earthquake that sends stars falling to earth.
08:07 This is followed by seven trumpets that bring devastating judgments and the emergence of
08:11 the beast, who marks people with the number 666.
08:15 The ultimate climax arrives with the battle at Armageddon, where the forces of good and
08:19 evil clash.
08:20 Finally, the New Jerusalem descends from heaven, and people are judged according to their deeds
08:25 on earth.
08:26 The righteous then get to spend eternity with God.
08:28 Do you fear any of these prophecies?
08:30 Let us know in the comments below.
08:56 Thanks for watching!
09:06 (bubbling)