They gave themselves titles, like Bishop So and So, Prophet So and So, Doctor So and So.  When I researched their "doctorates," they didn't do the work to earn their doctorates at an accredited school. They got them through diploma mills.  Looking back in hindsight, I believe the titles were a way to manipulate others into lifting them up and seeing them as superior person worthy of submission.  It increased their stature among the gullible.