Rasputin, the Monk

For this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11).

Rasputin, the monk is credited by some historians as one of the precipitating causes of the Russian Revolution. At one public meeting he boasted that the Tsar of all Russia made no decision without first listening to him. On affairs of state, the Tsar sought his advice, sometimes refusing to see his ministers and sending for Rasputin instead. The “mad monk” dismissed ministers and secured the appointment of others at will. Through his intrigues, his superior Bishop Hermogen was banished to a monastery in Lithuania.

And how did he gain such power? Because his prayers were supposed to have saved from death Alexis, the only son of Tsar and Tsarina, heir to the throne and heir also to an incurable blood disease, hemophilia.