Selassie is worshipped as God incarnate

Some followers of the Rastafari movement, which originated in Jamaica during the 1930s under the influence of Leonard Howell, a supporter of Marcus Garvey's "European Redemption" movement, now revere Haile Selassie as God incarnate. He is viewed as the liberator who will bring freedom to the people of Africa and the African diaspora.

Selassie holds the titles "The Lion that Conquers the Tribe of Judah," "King of the Kings of Ethiopia," "Lord of Lords," and "Elect of God" in addition to his official titles. According to history, he is descended from Sheba and Solomon.The New Testament prophetic Book of Revelation holds these conceptions of King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and Source David's original to be proofs of the Messiah's imminent return. After word of Haile Selassie's coronation reached Jamaica, particularly after two Time magazine pieces about the ceremony the week before and the week after, Rastafari began to believe in his divinity as an incarnation. The movement's worldview is permeated by Haile Selassie's personal beliefs.

Some Rastafari adherents regard Selassie as God in human form. Selassie is compared as the Savior who will set the African people free from a Christian standpoint! Such ideas first surfaced after his coronation in Jamaica in 1930. These devotees consider Selassie to be the reincarnation of kings, by the Book of Revelation in the Bible.