A number of religious traditions have specific warnings to their followers concerning deceivers who will emerge and present attractive, but false, teachings in order to lead them away from the truths to which they hold. In the Christian tradition particular attention is focused on false prophets and the emergence of the Antichrist as the prime deceiver. The Catholic Church holds that it will itself pass through a final trial prior to the Second Coming that will shake the faith of many believers. This will unveil the mystery of iniquity in the form of a religious deception. this will offer people an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.
Cult leaders are always very skilful operators and manipulators. They may or may not believe what they are saying, but they appear to say it with genuine conviction. Their followers, feeling abandoned by traditional society, project all their hopes onto a person of such confidence and the promises offered.