What does /christian/ think of Rasputin? He believed that giving into sin in necessary for salvation:
>He also maintained that sin and repentance were interdependent and necessary to salvation. Thus, he claimed that yielding to temptation (and, for him personally, this meant sex and alcohol), even for the purposes of humiliation (so as to dispel the sin of vanity), was needed to proceed to repentance and salvation.
Apparently he had power to heal through prayer (just like Christ did):
>During the summer of 1912, Alexei developed a hemorrhage in his thigh and groin after a jolting carriage ride near the royal hunting grounds at Spala, which caused a large hematoma.[39] In severe pain and delirious with fever, the Tsarevich appeared to be close to death.[40] In desperation, the Tsarina asked Vyrubova to send Rasputin (who was in Siberia) a telegram, asking him to pray for Alexei.[41] Rasputin wrote back quickly, telling the Tsarina that "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much."[41] The next morning, Alexei's condition was unchanged, but Alexandra was encouraged by the message and regained some hope that Alexei would survive. Alexei's bleeding stopped the following day.[41]
>Historian Robert K. Massie has called Alexei's recovery "one of the most mysterious episodes of the whole Rasputin legend."
Also "if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;" (Mark 16:18):
>Yusupov offered Rasputin tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide. At first, Rasputin refused the cakes, but then began to eat them. To Yusupov's surprise, Rasputin did not appear to be affected by the poison.[60] Rasputin then asked for some Madeira wine (which had also been poisoned) and drank three glasses, but still showed no sign of distress.
He also gave following correct prophecy to the Tsar, which almost came true (it was actually 7.5 months):
>If I die or you desert me, you will lose your son and your crown within six months.
Obviously he seems like a heretic, yet those miracles are very remarkable.