From many different sources, I’ve pieced just some of the evidence against the evolutionary process. Bottom line: the earth is created, there is a Creator, and the Bible is true. I won’t add a lot of bantering commentary, but let you jump right into the hard facts. Enjoy. 

 

Formation of life

        Dead chemicals cannot become alive on their own. The cell is a miniature factory with many active processes, not a simple blob of “protoplasm” as believed in Darwin’s day. Lightening striking a mud puddle or some “warm little pond” will never produce life. This is another view of the core issue of information as the simplest living cell requires a vast amount of information to be present. The “Law of Biogenesis” states that life comes only from prior life. Spontaneous generation has long been shown to be impossible (by Louis Pasteur in 1859). Numerous efforts to bring life from non-life (including the famous Miller-Urey experiment) have not succeeded. The probability of life forming from non-life has been likened to the probability of a tornado going through a junkyard and picking up all the parts of a house, only the parts of a house, and assembling all the pieces to make a complete home with electricity and plumbing, cupboards and shelving, and everything in working order. Reference: Why Abiogenesis is Impossible, Jerry Bergman, CRS Quarterly, Volume 36, March 2000

 

Design of living things

Design is apparent in the living world. Even Richard Dawkins in his anti-creation book The Blind Watchmaker admits “Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” The amazing defense mechanism of the Bombardier Beetle is a classic example of design in nature, seemingly impossible to explain as the result of accumulating small beneficial changes over time, because if the mechanism doesn’t work perfectly, “boom” – no more beetle! This is also another view of the core issue of information, as the design of living things is the result of processing the information in the DNA (following the blueprint) to produce a working organism.

 

Irreducible Complexity

        The idea that “nothing works until everything works.” The classic example is a mousetrap, which is irreducibly complex in that if one of its several pieces is missing or not in the right place, it will not function as a mousetrap and no mice will be caught. The systems, features, and processes of life are irreducibly complex. What good is a circulatory system without a heart? An eye without a brain to interpret the signals? What good is a half-formed wing? Doesn’t matching male and female reproductive machinery need to exist at the same time, fully-functioning if any reproduction is to take place? Remember, natural selection has no foresight, and works to eliminate anything not providing an immediate benefit. Reference: Darwin’s Black Box

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

        The Second Law of Thermodynamics refers to the universal tendency for things, on their own, to “mix” with their surrounding environment over time, becoming less ordered and eventually reaching a steady-state. A glass of hot water becomes room temperature, buildings decay into rubble, and the stars will eventually burn out leading to the “heat death” of the universe. However, the evolutionary scenario proposes that over time, things singlehandedly became more ordered and structured. Somehow the energy of a “Big Bang” structured itself into stars, galaxies, planets, and living things, contrary to the Second Law. It is sometimes said that the energy of the Sun was enough to overcome this tendency and allow for the formation of life on earth. However, application of energy alone is not enough to overcome this tendency; the energy must be channeled by a machine. A human must repair a building to keep it from decaying. Likewise, it is the machinery of photosynthesis which harnesses the energy of the Sun, allowing life to exist, and photosynthesis is itself a complex chemical process. The maturing of an acorn into a tree, or a zygote (the first cell resulting from fertilization) into a mature human being does not violate the Second Law as these processes are guided by the information already present in the acorn or zygote.

 

Existence of the Universe

        By definition, something must be eternal (as we have “something” today and something cannot come from “nothing”, so there was never a time when there was “nothing”). Either the universe itself is eternal, or something/someone outside of and greater than the universe is eternal. We know that the universe is not eternal, it had a beginning (as evidenced by its expansion, see ‘Expansion of Space Fabric’, below). Therefore, God (the something/someone outside of the universe) must exist and must have created the universe. Einstein showed that space and time are related. If there is no space there is no time. Before the universe was created there was no space and therefore no concept of time. This is hard for us to understand as we are space-time creatures, but it allows for God to be an eternal being, completely consistent with scientific laws. The question “who created God” is therefore an improper/invalid question, as it is a time-based question (concerning the point in time at which God “came into existence”) but God exists outside of time as the un-caused first cause. Reference: The Second Law of Thermodynamics (www.answersingenesis.org)

 

Fine-Tuning of Earth for Life

        Countless parameters are “just right” for life to exist on this planet. For example, if the Earth were just a little closer to the Sun it would be too hot and the ocean’s water would boil away, much further and it would be covered continually in ice, and we’d freeze. Earth’s circular orbit (to maintain a roughly constant temperature year-round), its rotation speed (to provide days and nights not too long or short), its tilt (to provide seasons), and the presence of the moon (to provide tides to cleanse the oceans) are just some of many other examples.
The presence of large amounts of water, with its amazing special properties, is also required. Water is a rare compound in that it is lighter in a solid state than in a liquid state. This allows ponds to freeze with the ice on the surface allowing the life beneath to survive. Otherwise bodies of water would freeze from the bottom up and become solid ice. Water is also the most universal “solvent” known, allowing for dissolving/mixing with the many different chemicals of life. In fact, our bodies are 75-85% comprised of water.

 

Fine-Tuning of our Physics

        The fine-tuning of the physical constants that control the physics of the universe – the settings of the basic forces (strong nuclear force constant, weak nuclear force constant, gravitational force constant, and electromagnetic force constant) are on a knife’s edge. A minor change in these or any of dozens of other universal parameters would make life impossible.

The “multiverse” idea that there may be many universes and ours “just happened” to have these proper values is outside of science and could never be proven. Even then we would have to ask “what was the cause of all these universes?”

 

Abrupt Appearance in the Fossil Record

        The oldest fossils for any creature are already fully-formed and don’t change much over time (“stasis”). The “Cambrian Explosion” in the “primordial strata” documents the geologically rapid appearance of most major groups of complex animals. There is no evidence of evolution from simpler forms. Birds are said to have evolved from reptiles but no fossil has ever been found having a “half-scale/half-wing”. A reptile breathes using an “in and out” lung (like humans have), but a bird has a “flow-through” lung suitable for moving through the air. Can you even imagine how such a transition of the lung could have taken place? Abrupt appearance and stasis are consistent with the biblical concept of creation “according to its kind”, and a world-wide flood that scoured the earth down to its basement rocks, depositing the “geologic column” and giving the appearance of a “Cambrian Explosion”. Smarter, more mobile creatures would escape the flood waters longer, becoming buried in higher-level strata, leading to a burial order progressing from “simpler” forms to more complex/higher-level forms, which people now wrongly interpret as an evolutionary progression. Reference: Fossils Q&A (www.answersingenesis.org)

 

Human Consciousness

        A person is a unity of body + mind/soul, the mind/soul being the immaterial part of you that is the real inner you. Chemicals alone cannot explain self-awareness, creativity, reasoning, emotions of love and hate, sensations of pleasure and pain, possessing and remembering experiences, and free will. Reason itself cannot be relied upon if it is based only on blind neurological events.

 

Human Language

        Language is one of the main things that separates mankind from animals. No animal is capable of achieving anything like human speech, and all attempts to teach chimpanzees to talk have failed. Evolutionists have no explanation for the origin of human language. However, the Bible does. It says that the first man, Adam, was created able to speak. The Bible also explains why we have different human languages, as God had to “confuse” the common language being used in Babel after the flood, in order to force people to spread out around the world as He wanted. This was only a “surface” confusion though, as all languages express the same underlying basic ideas and concepts, enabling other languages to be learned and understood.

 

Sexual Reproduction

        Many creatures reproduce asexually. Why would animals abandon simpler asexual reproduction in favor of more costly and inefficient sexual reproduction? Sexual reproduction is a very complex process that is only useful if fully in place. For sexual reproduction to have evolved complimentary male and female sex organs, sperm and eggs, and all the associated machinery in tandem defies the imagination.

 

The Biblical Witness

        The Bible is true. The history of the Bible is true. The words of the Bible concerning our origins were given to men to write down, by God, who was the only living being present. We were not there! God said He created the universe. God said He created all living things. We know that life is much more than chemicals. God put His life into Adam and that life has been transferred from generation to generation all the way down to us! Reference: The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict(McDowell, and a book I highly recommend)

 

Decay of Magnetic Field times in sync with Biblical Creation

        Dr. Thomas Barnes, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at El Paso, has published the definitive work in this field.4 Scientific observations since 1829 have shown that the earth’s magnetic field has been measurably decaying at an exponential rate, demonstrating its half-life to be approximately 1,400 years. In practical application its strength 20,000 years ago would approximate that of a magnetic star. Under those conditions many of the atoms necessary for life processes could not form. These data demonstrate that earth’s entire history is young, within a few thousand of years

 

Global Flood

        The Biblical record clearly describes a global Flood during Noah’s day. Additionally, there are hundreds of Flood traditions handed down through cultures all over the world. 5 M.E. Clark and Henry Voss have demonstrated the scientific validity of such a Flood providing the sedimentary layering we see on every continent. 6 Secular scholars report very rapid sedimentation and periods of great carbonate deposition in earth’s sedimentary layers.7 It is now possible to prove the historical reality of the Biblical Flood.8

Population Stats

        World population growth rate in recent times is about 2% per year. Practicable application of growth rate throughout human history would be about half that number. Wars, disease, famine, etc. have wiped out approximately one third of the population on average every 82 years. Starting with eight people, and applying these growth rates since the Flood of Noah’s day (about 4500 years ago) would give a total human population at just under six billion people. However, application on an evolutionary time scale runs into major difficulties. Starting with one “couple” just 41,000 years ago would give us a total population of 2 x 1089. 9The universe does not have space to hold so many bodies.

 

Radio Halos

            Physicist Robert Gentry has reported isolated radio halos of polonuim-214 in crystalline granite. The half-life of this element is 0.000164 seconds! To record the existence of this element in such short time span, the granite must be in crystalline state instantaneously.10 This runs counter to evolutionary estimates of 300 million years for granite to form.

Recently there have been evolutionists online in newsgroups and on blogs that have claimed Polonium 214 doesn’t exist. Main reason being is because they declare the Granite in the earth’s crust took many millions of years to form and finally cool and Polonium 214 takes less then a second to expend all its half-lives. In order to save face, some evolutionists have decided to lie and say Polonium 214 simply doesn’t exist. HOWEVER, if you go to http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=15735%2d67%2d8,you will see one of many online scientific websites that list the element Pulonium 214 to be found on Planet earth. On that page they share evidence that Polonium 214 is in fact a chemical profile that can and has been recorded by many scientists. Praise the Lord we have yet another factoid to prove evolution is a lie of Satan. For a look at how radio halos work, visit http://www.ichthus.info/Creation-Evidence/Polonium-Halos/intro.html

 

Atmospheric Helium Content

        Physicist Melvin Cook, Nobel Prize medalist found that helium-4 enters our atmosphere from solar wind and radioactive decay of uranium. At present rates our atmosphere would accumulate current helium-4 amounts in less than 10,000 years.12

Expansion of Space Fabric

            Astronomical estimates of the distance to various galaxies give conflicting data. 13The Biblical Record refers to the expansion of space by the Creator14. Astrophysicist Russell Humphries demonstrates that such space expansion would dilate time in distant space.15 This could explain a recent creation with great distances to the stars.

 

Design of Living Systems

            A living cell is so awesomely complex that its interdependent components stagger the imagination and defy evolutionary explanations. A minimal cell contains over 60,000 proteins of 100 different configurations.16 The chance of this assemblage occurring by chance is 1 in 10 4,478,296 .17

Design of Human Brain & Body 

           The human brain is the most complicated structure in the known universe.18 It contains over 100 billion cells, each with over 50,000 neuron connections to other brain cells.19 This structure receives over 100 million separate signals from the total human body every second. If we learned something new every second of our lives, it would take three million years to exhaust the capacity of the human brain. 20 In addition to conscious thought, people can actually reason, anticipate consequences, and devise plans – all without knowing they are doing so.21 Without giving a single thought to it, we breathe, digest, blink, and our heart beats. We’re made to have and be a completely functional operating system without reflection.

 

Biblical Archeology

Here are just a few examples of how archeological discoveries have verified the authenticity of Biblical accuracy:

Ø        Egyptian armor, chariots and human and horse bones found at the bottom of the Red Sea, proving Moses’ exodus from Egypt to Israel. In the image, you see a gold chariot wheel. Since coral doen’t grow on gold, that part remains clear to see. Unfortunately, the wood beneath the gold has deteriorated to the point that the wheel cannot be moved. Visit the web site below for more photos and info.

o       Source: http://users.netconnect.com.au/~leedas/redsea.html

red-sea-chariots

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ø        The discovery of the Ebla archive in northern Syria in the 1970s has shown the Biblical writings concerningthe Patriarchs to be viable. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place names in the Patriarchal accounts are genuine. The name “Canaan” was in use in Ebla, a name critics once said was not used at that time and was used incorrectly in the early chapters of the Bible. The word tehom (“the deep”) in Genesis 1:2 was said to be a late word demonstrating the late writing of the creation story. “Tehom” was part of the vocabulary at Ebla, in use some 800 years before Moses. Ancient customs reflected in the stories of the Patriarchs have also been found in clay tablets from Nuzi and Mari.

Ø        The Hittites were once thought to be a Biblical legend, until their capital and records were discovered at Bogazkoy, Turkey.

Ø        Many thought the Biblical references to Solomon’s wealth were greatly exaggerated. Recovered records from the past show that wealth in antiquity was concentrated with the king and Solomon’s prosperity was entirely feasible.

Ø        It was once claimed there was no Assyrian king named Sargon as recorded in Isaiah 20:1, because this name was not known in any other record. Then, Sargon’s palace was discovered in Khorsabad, Iraq. The very event mentioned in Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded on the palace walls. What is more, fragments of a stela memorializing the victory were found at Ashdod itself.

Ø        Another king who was in doubt was Belshazzar, king of Babylon, named in Daniel 5. The last king of Babylon was Nabonidus according to recorded history. Tablets were found showing that Belshazzar was Nabonidus’ son who served as coregent in Babylon. Thus, Belshazzar could offer to make Daniel “third highest ruler in the kingdom” (Dan. 5:16) for reading the handwriting on the wall, the highest available position. Here we see the “eye-witness” nature of the Biblical record, as is so often brought out by the discoveries of archaeology.

o       Source: http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a008.html

 

T-Rex: A Vegetarian?

  1. The roots of T-Rex teeth were only 2 inches deep. Had he bit into the hide of another dinosaur he would have lost teeth. Hides were thick and animals would struggle for their lives. A two inch root would pull out with little force.
  2. They cut a tooth in half of an unearthed T-Rex and found it deeply impureated with CHLOROPHYLL! That’s right, Chlorophyll is the main substance found in PLANTS not meat!

By the way, this discovery validates the Bible once again! How so? See this passage…

Genesis 1:29-30, “Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so.”

Now before proclaiming you MUST eat meat because the proteins in meat will help you to gain weight, look around on planet earth for a moment. Look at all the HUGE animals like cows… horses… Hippos… Elephants… Rhinos… etc. What do THEY eat? That’s right. PLANTS!

 

Giants of Biblical Proportion

            According to the Bible, there were once giants on the earth. Goliath, the most famous of the giants, was said to be over nine feet tall (1 Samuel 17:4).  Bones and skeletons have been found of these colossal humans. Some were called the Nephilim, Anakites, Emites, and Amorites. Goliath was a Philistine. (Numbers 13:28-33; Deuteronomy 1:28; 2:10; 9:2) Below is a photo of a man next to a 47 inch human femur. Similar finds have included entire skeletons, most too far decomposed to move. There are a number of skeletons, skulls, and footprints of giants as tall as 30 feet. They appear in almost every culture’s folklore and legend, most of them the “big bully” variety, and a hero dispatches almost all. Theories about the builders of pyramids, stone circles, and other monolithic examples of ancient construction find giants as a possible answer. Big blocks mean big builders.

giants

 A few other minor points to ponder: If we evolved,…

  • Why do still get so easily sunburned?
  • Why can’t I go outside without a coat on in the middle of winter?
  • Were did the gills go? I really could’ve used them when I almost drowned!
  • Why lose the tail? I could really use it right now.
  • Why can’t we stand being in extreme heat, extreme cold or underwater? If we evolved into a better life-form, we should’ve overcome these huge inconveniences to our everyday existence. To be truly above everything else and focussed on the survival of our species, we’d become a flying, asexual rock.

 1Woodmorappe, John, “The Essential Non-Existence of the Evolutionary Uniformitarian Geologic Column: A Quantitative Assessment,” Creation Research Society Quarterly, vol. 18, no.1 (Terre Haute, Indiana, June 1981),pp. 46-71
2Nilsson, N. Heribert, as quoted in Arthur C. Custance, The Earth Before Man, Part II, Doorway Papers, no. 20 (Ontario, Canada: Doorway Publications), p. 51
3Corner, E.J.H., Contemporary Botanical Thought, ed. A.M. MacLeod and L.S. Cobley (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1961), p. 97
4Barnes, Thomas, ICR Technical Monograph #4, Origin and Destiny of the Earth’s Magnetic Field (2nd edition, 1983)
5Blick, Edward, A Scientific Analysis of Genesis (Oklahoma City: Hearthstone, 1991) p. 103
6Clark, M.E. and Voss, H.D., “Fluid Mechanic Examination of the Tial Mechanism for Producing Mega-Sedimantary Layering” (Third International Conference on Creation, Pittsburg, July 1994)
7Ager, Derek, The Nature of the Stratigraphical Record (New York: John Wiley and Sons) p. 43 and p. 86
8West, John Anthony, Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt (New York: Julian Press, 1987) pp. 13-14
9 See Morris, Henry, Scientific Creationism(El Cajon, CA: Master Books)
10Gentry, Robert, Creation’s Tiny Mystery (Knoxville, Tenn.: Earth Science Assoc.,1988 )
11Baugh, Carl, Why Do Men Believe Evolution AGAINST ALL ODDS? (Oklahoma City: Hearthstone, 1999)
12Cook, Melvin, “Where is The Earth’s Radiogenic Helium?” Nature, Vol. 179, p. 213
13Cowan, R., “Further Evidence of a Youthful Universe,” Science News, Vol. 148, p. 166
14Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 40:22
15Humphries, Russell, Starlight and Time (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1994)
16Denton, Michael, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Bethesda, Maryland: Adler & Adler, 1986) p. 263
17Mastropaolo, Joseph, “Evolution Is Biologically Impossible,” Impact # 317(El Cajon, CA: Institute For Creation Research,1999) p. 4
18Restak, Richard, The Brain: The Last Frontier, 1979, p. 390
19The Brain, Our Universe Within, PBS Video
20Wonders of God’s Creation, Moody Video Series
21Weiss, Joseph, “Unconscious Mental Functioning,” Scientific American, March 1990, p. 103

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Politics. So many of us are just sick of it. Neither candidate has been telling the whole truth. Neither of them has a perfect voting record. Both of them love to sling mud. Its part of the job. One has to wonder, though, if being in the position of a presidential candidate requires such, let call it cruelty, and a heartlessness that you can publically attack another in front of millions, what else must that person have done to be in that position? Did they have to lie? Cheat? Break IRS tax codes and commit mass corporate deceptions? I’m sure that they did. You can’t get all the way to the top without stepping on a few toes.

 

He taxes too much. If you vote for him you’ll be homeless. If you vote for the other one, your children will starve. But if you vote for the first guy, they’ll lose all their education and become stupid rejects, begging for day-old scraps behind the ghetto bakery. But the other guy will take your job. And the other one will tax your new raise so you actually come home with $5 less every week. One of them will date your mom. The other will shut down her nursing home. One will have dinner with terrorists at Arby’s while the other just sends him a check at Christmas, even though they don’t celebrate Christmas.

 

Here’s what I’m saying: There are bigger issues than whose face is on the front page. Every day 6000 kids are killed by mid-term or later abortion. They refuse to allow Bibles in schools, so Christian parents teach home school, allowing their children to learn math and moral values at the same time. While the schools are taking a massive dump when it comes to value and ethics and crime and teaching self-worth, the state of California just outlawed Christians from their God-given right to teach their own kids. Now they have to send them to the cesspool of a school that will teach anti-creation science, thereby infringing on the rights of students to practice their own religion freely (but don’t worry, they won’t attack Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, pagans, wiccans, Scientologists, etc. Just the Christians.)

 

Let’s see, what else? Lets talk about gay marriage. I’m all for gays to have the right to choose their lifestyle- its their choice. (Just like my kids schooling used to be.) But I’m not for the whole gay-marriage thing. Sure, they can practice it, but that doesn’t really make it a marriage. I know, I know, they’ve redefined what “marriage” is, but it used to be a union before God between a man and a woman. Since most homosexuals don’t believe in or care for God, they can’t really have a union before Him that He will honor. But, what they hey, they ignored my right to practice my faith (only if it’s from the Christian Bible) by ignoring the 1st amendment, why not ignore the other principals too.

 

So who is going to do what to help me out? Am I personally going to benefit from either party being elected? Maybe, but probably not. There aren’t a whole lot of things that are going to actually make a difference in the way I daily live my life. I could be wrong, but here’s how I look at it:

If one side is accused of overtaxing and the other of allowing abortions, I will sacrifice a couple bucks, even a couple hundred, per year to vote for the sanctity of life.

If one side is accused of sending jobs overseas and the other of limiting free speech, I’m probably going to have to go for free speech. There will always be a need for jobs on the US. They may not be the best, but we have too many people not to need a ton of jobs. We also have a lot of politicians going after free speech, even though the ones attacked are the churches and the right. Hmm.

If one side wants to build a thousand mile fence at the borders and the other wants to let gays marry, I will go for the fence. Those guys are great climbers and if they can get in through, over or under a military fence, then they deserve to stay. For those that can’t, they can still come here, but have to go through the legal process. Meanwhile, I stand up for what I believe regarding gay marriage. I’m not anti-gay, but I’m not pro-gay. I’m just ok-gay; they can do their thing, but I don’t want tax dollars going toward something I find immoral.

Bottom line, I can’t do anything about the politicians. But, then again, I will probably never have to answer to them. I will, however, have to answer to God. I will stand before Him and be able to say that I voted for the things and the principles that are on His side, His Law, and His eternal purpose. I will say that I stood up for hundreds of thousands of innocent children and supported their right to life. I will say that I voted against the activity that led to His destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, the activities that He calls an abomination. I will be able to say that I stood up for His Word, His teaching, for the right to exhibit by faith, to speak freely the gospel. I will say, “Jesus, I stood up for you.”

What do you stand for?

The Kenyan government on October 7, 2008, essentially kidnapped a reporter. The reporter is World Net Daily senior staff writer Jerome “Jerry” Corsi. Corsi was scheduled to deliver damning evidence on both US presidential hopeful Barack Obama and his cousin, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

At nearly 10 a.m. Corsi was entering his hotel, the Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi, Kenyan, where the press conference was to take place, when he was ambushed by immigration officers.

“He was walking in and then some immigration officers who were following him snatched him. It happened so fast, they just vanished with him,” said one hotel employee.

In late December 2007 Kenya held a presidential election, of which the winner was announced as Mwai Kibaki. Immediately following the announcement, Odinga called foul. He accused election fraud and there was soon fighting in the streets and slums of Kenya. Over 1,000 were killed and 500,000 displaced from their homes. Hundreds and hundreds of churches were burned to the ground, destroyed or had to be abandoned. One Assemblies of God pastor reported that over 400 of their churches were affected similarly. Most of those killed were part of Kibaki’s party, Christians, or both. Coincidentally, no reports of any mosque damage were reported from that wave of violence.

Corsi was about to disclose evidence that Barack Hussein Obama had not only remained in close contact with his cousin Odinga, but that the contact was in reference to Obama coaching Odinga on campaign strategy and in raising U.S. funds for Odinga’s race to the presidency.

 

Even worse, Corsi was to reveal evidence that Odinga’s campaign strategy called for the exploitation of Kikuyu tribal settlements, claiming victory and charging voter fraud even if the campaign knew the election had been legitimately lost, and that Obama was aware of it. That is exactly what he ended up doing. Odinga was also willing to encourage the ethnic tribal violence against the Kikuyu, which is Kibaki’s tribe. The plan was to then provoke the Electoral Commission of Kenya to declare him the winner. Currently, there is a power-sharing arrangement between Odinga and Kibaki.

 

Of concern to many is the series of promises that Odinga made to the Kenyan Muslim community. He has yet to fulfill his promises, or to declare a position on Shariah law. Corsi said that Obama remained in active phone contact with his cousin through the New Hampshire Democratic Party primary in January. Obama has continually turned a blind eye to an agreement that Odinga signed with Muslims as well as the post-election violence that was initiated by Odinga’s political party.

 

Some reports that came out of the fighting stated that the price for a home or church to be burned was as little as $8 (USD) and a life could be taken for $16 (USD).

 

It is unclear who is behind the detaining of Corsi, or why. What is known is that many powerful political leaders would not want this information to be made public. Who had immigration capture Corsi and stop the press conference? Who has the most to lose? Obama? Odinga? One can conclude that perhaps it’s all in the family.

 

For more on this, please visit: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77268

Source: http://www.infowars.com/?p=4771

 

Army Awards Contract for “High Speed Portable Portal Iris Capture Solution”

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

September 23, 2008

Sarnoff Corporation today announced it has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to develop and demonstrate a high speed biometric capture technology solution for iris-based identification. The system will be designed to be ruggedized for field use and quickly deployable.

The new iris recognition system will leverage Sarnoff’s patent-pending Iris on the Move(R) (IOM) technology for fast and reliable identification. IOM is a proven biometric identification system that quickly captures the iris image of a person in motion. The technology is ideally suited for force protection, civil-military operations, and combat situations.

Other iris scanning technologies require users to stop, line up their eye properly, and stare directly into a scanner for a period of time. IOM technology verifies identities at speeds of up to thirty people per minute, allowing subjects to walk through the system at a standard pace, without stopping. In addition, Sarnoff’s design will automatically adjust for subjects’ height without slowing throughput.

“Current biometric ID systems take too long to identify people in high traffic areas and cause long lines to form at checkpoints,” said Dr. Don Newsome, President and CEO of Sarnoff Corporation. “This is inconvenient and poses a security risk. The IOM technology makes it easy to set up iris scanning checkpoints that are as reliable as other biometric-based options but quick enough to keep lines moving rapidly.”

The IOM system delivers accurate identification regardless of whether the subject is wearing prescription glasses, most sunglasses, or contact lenses. In addition, IOM technology can capture iris images from farther distances than any other commercial iris scanning technology.

Sarnoff has delivered IOM technology to several secure government facilities and private corporations. The technology can be used for a broader range of applications including banking ID verification, border crossing initiatives, event security, payment systems, and employee access.

Video clip example of iris scan in ‘Minority Reeport’. Gov’t embedded idea into movies to “get people ready”.

Article URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6607757.stm

   

 

 

US and EU agree ‘single market’

The United States and the European Union have signed up to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington.

The pact is designed to boost trade and investment by harmonizing regulatory standards, laying the basis for a US-EU single market.

The two sides also signed an Open Skies deal, designed to reduce fares and boost traffic on transatlantic flights.

But little of substance was agreed on climate change.

However, EU leaders were pleased that the US acknowledged human activity was a major cause.

Richest regions

Economics rather than the environment or politics was the focus of the summit, says the BBC’s Europe correspondent, Jonny Dymond, from Washington.

The two sides agreed to set up an “economic council” to push ahead with regulatory convergence in nearly 40 areas, including intellectual property, financial services, business takeovers and the motor industry.

            Without the US there can’t be any success in coping with a globalised world

European diplomat

 

The aim is to increase trade and lower costs.

Some reports suggest that incompatible regulations in the world’s two richest regions add 10% to the cost of developing and producing new cars.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said last month that if the US and EU could set business norms today, they would “secure the markets of tomorrow”.

Since she came to office 18 months ago, she has made repairing damaged relations with the US a top priority.

Emission cuts

The Europeans said they were pleased that the US now officially acknowledged that climate change was happening and that human activity was a major cause of it.

“We agree there’s a threat, there’s a very serious global threat,” said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

“We agree that there is a need to reduce emissions. We agree that we should work together.”

But behind the scenes, says our Europe correspondent, officials were saying that not much had changed.

Ms Merkel will try to nudge the US towards a global approach to climate change before a G8 summit Germany is chairing in six weeks’ time, says our correspondent.

But the US has consistently rejected the European approach of imposing national limits on greenhouse gas emissions, saying they would harm the international economy.

Visa hope

The Open Skies agreement will take effect on 30 March 2008 and will allow EU carriers to fly to anywhere in the US and vice versa.

The deal promises to lower airfares and widen choice for passengers on both sides of the Atlantic.

The EU hopes to go further and create an “Open Aviation Area” between the two sides “in which investment can flow freely and in which European and US airlines can provide air services without any restriction,” said a EU statement.

The EU is also hoping that the US will agree to withdraw its visa requirement for travellers from a number of EU states.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6607757.stm

Published: 2007/04/30 23:21:16 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

 

Secret Bilderberg Agenda To Microchip Americans Leaked

Elitists want to microchip Americans in name of fighting terrorism, Europeans universally opposed to attack on Iran, Globalists fear oil prices rising too quickly

Paul Joseph Watson

Prison Planet

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Sources from inside the 2008 Bilderberg meeting have leaked the details of what elitists were discussing in Chantilly Virginia last week and the talking points were ominous – a plan to microchip Americans under the pretext of fighting terrorist groups which will be identified as blonde haired, blue eyed westerners.

Veteran Bilderberg sleuth Jim Tucker relies on sources who regularly attend Bilderberg as aides and assistants but who are not Bilderberg members themselves. The information they provided this year is bone-chilling for those who have tracked the development of the plan to make the general public consider implanted microchips as a convenience as routine as credit cards.

“Under the heading of resisting terrorism there were points made about how the terrorist organizations are recruiting people who do not look like terrorists – blonde, blue eyed boys – they’re searching hard for those types to become the new mad bombers,” said Tucker.

As we have documented, the blue eyed blonde haired Al-Qaeda line is a familiar talking point that has been pushed on Fox News and within other Neo-Con circles in an attempt to turn the anti-terror apparatus around to target dissidents, protesters and the American people in general.

Ominously, Tucker’s source also told him that Bilderberg were discussing the microchipping of humans on a mass scale, which would be introduced under the pretext of fighting terrorism whereby the “good guys” would be allowed to travel freely from airports so long as their microchip could be scanned and the information stored in a database.

Tucker said the idea was also sold on the basis that it would help hospital staff treat a patient in an emergency situation because a scan of the chip would provide instantaneous access to health details.

Tucker underscored that Bilderberg were talking about subdermally implanted chips and not merely RFID chips contained in clothing. The discussion took place in a main conference hall and was part of the agenda, not an off-hand remark in the hotel bar.

Such a bizarre concept may seem unbelievable to some, but over the last ten years there have been dozens of examples of people accepting implanted chips for a variety of different reasons.

In 2004, Mexico’s attorney general and 160 of his office staff were implanted with tracker chips to control access to secure areas of their headquarters.

The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona and other nightclubs around the world are already offering implantable chips to customers who want to pay for drinks with the wave of a hand and also get access to VIP areas of the club lounge.

Bilderberg skeptical of attack on Iran

Tucker’s source told him that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates did attend Bilderberg despite him not appearing on the official list.

Tucker said that his sources told him Gates was in attendance to present his case for war with Iran, but that the majority of Bilderberg members were against an attack at this time.

“The Europeans were generally opposed to an invasion of Iran – Gates made the regular war propaganda drill about how Iran is a nuclear threat to everybody,” said Tucker, adding that European Bilderbergers made snide comments about where such nuclear weapons actually were being kept and at one point joking that they were possibly “in Saddam Hussein’s tomb”.

Despite Bilderberg opposition, Tucker said that the administration was still considering an attack before Bush leaves office in January.

“At least 90 per cent of the Europeans oppose a war, probably closer to 100 per cent,” said Tucker, adding, “most of the Americans were passive and deferential to the Secretary of Defense and Condoleezza Rice’s pitch in so far as Iran is concerned”.

Tucker said that most Americans present at the meeting were opposed to attacking Iran but dare not be as visible and loud in their opposition as the Europeans.

Energy and oil prices

“One of the Bilderberg boys raised this question – should we put a lid on the rise in oil prices, are we reaching the point of diminishing returns,” said Tucker, adding that Bilderberg noted how Americans were trading in their SUV’s in record numbers for small and more fuel efficient cars and using more public transport to combat high gas prices.

Tucker’s source said that Bilderberg were predicting $5 for a gallon of gas by the end of this summer and oil over $150 dollars a barrel, but that this was a ceiling and oil prices would probably begin to decline thereafter because they thought the acceleration had happened too quickly.

As we previously reported, Bilderberg called for oil prices to soar in 2005 when oil was a mere $40 a barrel.

During the conference in Germany, Henry Kissinger told his fellow attendees that the elite had resolved to ensure that oil prices would double over the course of the next 12-24 months, which is exactly what happened.

During their 2006 meeting in Ottawa Canada, Bilderberg agreed to push for $105 a barrel before the end of 2008. With that target having been smashed months ago, the acceleration towards $150 is outstripping even Bilderberg’s goal, which is why the elitists expressed a desire to cool prices at least in the short term.

Just two days after he left Bilderberg, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, George W. Bush and others expressed support for a strong dollar and Bernanke hinted that interest rates could rise, which immediately caused oil prices to drop in line with Bilderberg’s consensus.

 

Masons are chipping their kids at a local fair!!!! They do a retinal scan, voice recording and they put an RFID chip in the kids as a carnival attraction.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7octwsoi4HM

 Videos:

Concentration Camps in US:

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqi123hBw2A

Concentration Camps in Texas

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxYxTly-yo8

Apparently, there are a number of buildings throughout the US that are supposedly “abandoned” warehouses and large factory-style businesses. These buildings have unique additions, such as military personnel, US Army & Air force vehicles, wind socks and other markers for helicopters,  the addition of barbed wire- pointing inwards (to keep people in, not out) and added heating systems (for buildings deemed “not in use”).  This is one piece of the puzzle.

 

Bill Clinton was asked about these and basically said, “We need to get along with other agencies and cooperate in our inter-dependant world” He DID say, “We’re better off with NATO. We’re better off with the United Nations.” Hand over our control? Live under the dictatorship of a one world government?

Here’s that link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFPsHPKY0y8

 

The world’s government is planning on mass world depopulation. Many cases of witnesses have seen and taped the piles and piles of caskets. This is for those who die in the depopulation and those who disobey the martial law. Hundreds of thousands of caskets in scarcely populated rural areas. About 1 ½ min into this video is a close-up. Second video even better.

  URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYp85QMJd1Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGa_sdyRS7Q

 

 

FEMA has already built underground caves and tunnels and is ready for a nuclear attack or “plague” to strike. We already know that the governments are working together (google “Builerberg” for more) and that they will more than likely intentionally release the pestilence and/ or weapons to annialate up to 80% of the world’s population. In this video, the FEMA agent becomes suddenly quiet when asked about the underground facilities, even though it is supposedly for “security in the event of an attack”.

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S2J3i34XW8

 

A massive conspiracy to create a new one world order?

Watch these, and see the evidence. Then make your decision. (2nd half of this video is of the concentration camp, above)

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXlEfUGEzl4

 

 

This last video is VERY LONG. Its over 2 hours, so watch it as you have time. This is an exclusive documentary about the secret Bilderberg meetings and the plans that the governments have for martial law, with piles of proof and evidence. Here’s the video, followed by Wikipedia’s definition and explanation of the Bilderberg group, and a list of attendees:

 

 URL: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1070329053600562261&ei=kPPWSOX1NqXGrQK_iOnZAg&q=alex+jones+endgame&hl=en

 

Origin and purpose

 Hotel de Bilderberg

The original Bilderberg conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg, near Arnhem in The Netherlands, from May 29 to May 31, 1954. The meeting was initiated by several people, including Joseph Retinger, concerned about the growth of anti-Americanism in Western Europe, who proposed an international conference at which leaders from European countries and the United States would be brought together with the aim of promoting understanding between the cultures of United States of America and Western Europe.[5]

Retinger approached Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who agreed to promote the idea, together with Belgian Prime Minister Paul Van Zeeland, and the head of Unilever at that time, the Dutchman Paul Rijkens. Bernhard in turn contacted Walter Bedell Smith, then head of the CIA, who asked Eisenhower adviser C. D. Jackson to deal with the suggestion.[6] The guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one each to represent conservative and liberal (both terms used in the American sense) points of view.[5]

The success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent Steering Committee was established, with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary. As well as organizing the conference, the steering committee also maintained a register of attendee names and contact details, with the aim of creating an informal network of individuals who could call upon one another in a private capacity. Conferences were held in France, Germany, and Denmark over the following three years. In 1957, the first U.S. conference was held in St. Simons, Georgia, with $30,000 from the Ford Foundation. The foundation supplied additional funding of $48,000 in 1959, and $60,000 in 1963.[6]

Dutch economist Ernst van der Beugel took over as permanent secretary in 1960, upon the death of Retinger. Prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meeting’s chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockheed affair. There was no conference that year, but meetings resumed in 1977 under Alec Douglas-Home, the former British Prime Minister. He was followed in turn by Walter Scheel, ex-President of West Germany, Eric Roll, former head of SG Warburg and Lord Carrington, former Secretary-General of NATO.[7]

Attendees

Main article: List of Bilderberg attendees

Attendees of Bilderberg include central bankers, defense experts, mass media press barons, government ministers, prime ministers, royalty, international financiers and political leaders from Europe and North America.

Some of the Western world’s leading financiers and foreign policy strategists attend Bilderberg. Donald Rumsfeld is an active Bilderberger, as is Peter Sutherland from Ireland, a former European Union commissioner and chairman of Goldman Sachs and of British Petroleum. Rumsfeld and Sutherland served together in 2000 on the board of the Swedish/Swiss engineering company ABB. Former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary and former World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz is also a member. The group’s current chairman is Etienne Davignon, the Belgian businessman and politician.

Mainstream criticism

Critics claim the Bilderberg Group promotes the careers of politicians whose views are representative of the interests of multinational corporations, at the expense of democracy.[8] Journalists who have been invited to attend the Bilderberg Conference as observers have discounted these claims, calling the conference “not much different from a seminar or a conference organized by an upscale NGO”[9] with “nothing different except for the influence of the participants.”[10]

 Conspiracy theories

The group’s secrecy and its connections to power elites encourages speculation and mistrust by such groups or individuals who believe that the group is part of a conspiracy to create a New World Order. This is further encouraged by the frequent use of the term ‘New World Order’ by its members when referring to their ultimate goal of world integration. The group is frequently accused of secretive and nefarious world plots by groups such as the John Birch Society.[11] This thinking has progressively found acceptance within both elements of the populist movement and fringe politics. [12] According to investigative journalist Chip Berlet, the prominent origins of Bilderberger conspiracy theories can be traced to activist Phyllis Schlafly. [13]

Radio host Alex Jones claims the group intends to dissolve the sovereignty of the United States and other countries into a supra-national structure similar to the European Union. This accusation is also linked with others claiming plans for a merger of Canada with United States, hoping Canadian influence will be calming to American society and foreign policy.

From “The Hunt for Red Menace:” “The views on intractable godless communism expressed by [Fred] Schwarz were central themes in three other bestselling books which were used to mobilize support for the 1964 Goldwater campaign. The best known was Phyllis Schlafly’s A Choice, Not an Echo which suggested a conspiracy theory in which the Republican Party was secretly controlled by elitist intellectuals dominated by members of the Bilderberger group, whose policies would pave the way for global communist conquest. Schlafly’s husband Fred had been a lecturer at Schwartz’s local Christian anti-communism Crusade conferences.” [14]

Jonathan Duffy, writing in BBC News Online Magazine states “In the void created by such aloofness, an extraordinary conspiracy theory has grown up around the group that alleges the fate of the world is largely decided by Bilderberg.”[15]

Denis Healey, a Bilderberg founder and former British Chancellor of the Exchequer, decries such theories. He was quoted by BBC News as saying “There’s absolutely nothing in it. We never sought to reach a consensus on the big issues at Bilderberg. It’s simply a place for discussion.”[15]

Some popular media references to the group are in Fredrick Forsyth’s novel “The Icon” where the group decides to undermine a nationalist Russian leader loosely modeled on Vladimir Putin (among others).

 

LIST OF ATTENDEES:


Royalty

               Prince Philip (1965, 1966, 1967), Duke of Edinburgh

               Prince Charles (1986), Prince of Wales

               Prince Bernhard (Chairman of Bilderberg Meetings 1954-1976), father of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

               Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands[3]

               Claus von Amsberg (1967, 1968, 1971, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986-1989), husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

               Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange (1990, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2008), Crown Prince of the Netherlands

               Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (1989)

               Queen Sofia of Spain, wife of Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1996)

               Infanta Cristina, Duchess of Palma de Mallorca, younger daughter of Juan Carlos I, King of Spain

               Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant (1992, 1993, 1996, 2008), Crown Prince of Belgium

               Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, King of Sweden (1995)

               Harald V of Norway, King of Norway (1984)

               Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein (1985, 1986, 1987)

               Prince Axel of Denmark (1955, 1957)

Politics

United States

               David L. Aaron (1977), former Deputy National Security Advisor

               Dean Acheson (1957, 1958, 1964, 1966), former United States Secretary of State

               Keith B. Alexander (2008), current Director, National Security Agency

               Roger Altman (2008), former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury

               John B. Anderson (1977), former US Congressman

               Michael Armacost (1997), President, Brookings Institution

               Nancy Kassebaum Baker (1988), former US Senator

               George W. Ball (1954-1992),[4] former U.S. diplomat

               Evan Bayh (1999), current US Senator, former Democratic Leadership Council Chairman, also attended the Renaissance Weekend. Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Member of the Alfalfa Club

               Lloyd Bentsen (1989, 1992, 1995 – 1997), former United States Secretary of the Treasury

               Sandy Berger (1997), former National Security Advisor (United States)

               James H. Billington (1992), former Librarian of Congress

               Eugene R. Black, Sr. (1957, 1966), former President of the World Bank

               John Bolton (2003)

               John Brademas (1966), former US Congressman

               Bill Bradley (1985), former US Senator

               Nicholas F. Brady (1984, 1986, 1988, 1991), former United States Secretary of the Treasury

               Edward Brooke (1968), former US Senator

               Zbigniew Brzezinski (Guest, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1985), President Carter’s National Security Advisor

               McGeorge Bundy (1956, 1957, 1964, 1966, 1980), former National Security Advisor (United States)

               William Bundy (1977)

               Clifford P. Case (1958), former US Senator

               John Chafee (1979, 1986, 1991, 1992), former US Senator

               Frank Church, former US Senator

               Hillary Clinton (1997), current US Senator, also attended the World Economic Forum, the Munich Conference on Security Policy, the Salzburg Global Seminar and the Renaissance Weekend. Member of the Democratic Leadership Council

               Bill Clinton (1991),[5] former US President, 1993 – 2001

               Carlos M. Collazo (2003)

               Barber Conable, former President of the World Bank

               Richard Cooper (1975, 1977), former United States Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs

               Jon Corzine (1995 – 1997[3], 1999, 2003, 2004), current Governor of New Jersey

               Kenneth W. Dam (1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989-1997), former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury

               Richard Darman (1987), former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury

               Thomas A. Daschle (2008), former US Senator

               Lynn Davis (1995)

               John M. Deutch (1998), former CIA Director, former United States Deputy Secretary of Defense

               Thomas E. Dewey (1956, 1957, 1966), former Governor of New York

               C. Douglas Dillon (1968), former United States Secretary of the Treasury

               Christopher Dodd (1999 – 2001), current US Senator

               John Edwards (2004), former US Senator

               Stuart Eizenstat (2002), former United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury

               Mike Espy (1994), former United States Secretary of Agriculture

               Daniel J. Evans (1986, 1988), former US Senator, former Governor of Washington

               Dianne Feinstein (1991), current US Senator

               Douglas Feith (2004)

               James Florio (1994), former Governor of New Jersey

               Tom Foley (1988, 1990, 1995, 2002), former Speaker of the US House of Representatives

               Gerald R. Ford (1964, 1966), former US President, 1974 – 1977

               Harold Ford, Jr. (2008), current Chairman, Democratic Leadership Council, former US Congressman, Vice Chairman, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

               Donald M. Fraser (1971), former US Congressman

               Peter Hood Ballantine Frelinghuysen, Jr. (1964, 1966, 1971), former US Congressman

               J. William Fulbright (1956, 1957, 1964), former US Senator

               Cornelius Edward Gallagher (1963, 1966), former US Congressman

               Melinda Gates (2004), wife of Bill Gates

               David Gergen (1992, 1995), political consultant and presidential adviser during the Republican administrations of Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, campaign staffer for George H.W. Bush and adviser to Democratic President Bill Clinton

               Dan Glickman (2001), former US Congressman

               Andrew Goodpaster (1968, 1974), former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

               Donald Gregg (1985), former United States Ambassador

               Marc Grossman (2007), former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs

               Alfred Gruenther (1955, 1957, 1966), former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

               Richard N. Haass (1991, 2003, 2004)[6], president, Council on Foreign Relations

               Philip C. Habib (1992)

               Chuck Hagel (1999 – 2001), current US Senator

               Alexander Haig (1978), former United States Secretary of State

               Lee H. Hamilton (1997)[3], former US Congressman

               Fred R. Harris (1966), former US Senator

               H. John Heinz III (1978), former US Senator

               Christian Herter (1961, 1963, 1964, 1966),[7] former Secretary of State

               Carla Anderson Hills (2002), former United States Trade Representative

               Richard Holbrooke (1995 – 1999, 2004 – 2006, 2008), former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

               Kay Bailey Hutchison (2000, 2002), current US Senator

               Henry M. Jackson (1964, 1966-1968), former US Senator

               Jacob Javits (1964, 1966), former US Senator

               Joseph E. Johnson (1954)[8], former President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

               Bennett Johnston Jr. (1991), former US Senator

               James Robert Jones (1985), former US Congressman

               Vernon Jordan (1979-1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2005, 2006, 2008 )

               Robert Kagan (2004)

               Thomas Kean (1989), former Governor of New Jersey

               Robert M. Kimmitt (1995), current United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury

               Lane Kirkland (1977), former President, AFL-CIO

               Jeane Kirkpatrick (1981), former United States Ambassador to the United Nations

               Henry Kissinger (1957, 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1977-2003, 2004,[6] 2005-2008), Secretary of State, 1973 – 1977

               John LaFalce (2002), former US Congressman

               Michael Ledeen (2005)

               Lyman L. Lemnitzer (1957, 1963, 1966), former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

               Winston Lord (1974, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1996), former United States Ambassador to China

               William J. Luti (2004), Senior Director for Defense Policy and Strategy for the National Security Council

               Terry McAuliffe (2002), former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee

               John J. McCloy (1958, 1964, 1966), former President of the World Bank

               Donald F. McHenry (1986, 1996), former United States Ambassador to the United Nations

               Robert S. McNamara (1968, 1975), former US Secretary of Defense, former President of the World Bank

               Charles Mathias, Jr. (1967, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1984-1993), former US Senator

               Ken Mehlman (2005), former Chairman of the Republican National Committee

               Cord Meyer (1957), CIA official

               George J. Mitchell, former US Senator

               Walter F. Mondale (1974, 1981), former US Vice President, 1977 – 1981

               Lauris Norstad (1967), former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

               Sam Nunn (1996, 1997[3]), former US Senator

               William Odom (1993), former National Security Agency Director

               Dan Quayle (1990, 1991), former US Vice President, 1989 – 1993

               George Pataki (2006), former Governor of New York

               Henry M. Paulson, Jr. (2008), current United States Secretary of the Treasury

               Claiborne Pell (1992), former US Senator

               Richard Perle (1983, 1985, 2003, 2006, 2008), assistant Secretary of Defense, 1981 – 1987

               Rick Perry (2007), current Governor of Texas

               William J. Perry (1996), former United States Secretary of Defense

               Peter George Peterson (1978), former United States Secretary of Commerce

               Colin L. Powell (1997), former United States Secretary of State

               Larry Pressler (1993), former US Senator

               Lewis Thompson Preston, former President of the World Bank

               Joel Pritchard (1975), former US Congressman

               Marc Racicot (2002), former Chairman, Republican National Committee

               Ralph E. Reed, Jr. (2004), former first executive director of the Christian Coalition

               William K. Reilly (1989), former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator

               Condoleezza Rice (2008), current United States Secretary of State

               Bill Richardson (1999, 2000), current Governor of New Mexico

               Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (1971), former US Senator

               Alice Rivlin (1984)

               David Rockefeller, original U.S. founding member, life member, and member of the Steering Committee (1954-

               David Rockefeller, Jr. (1989)

               Jay Rockefeller (1971), current US Senator

               Nelson A. Rockefeller (1957, 1974), former US Vice President, 1974 – 1977, former Governor of New York, 1959 – 1973

               Dennis Ross (2004, 2006, 2008 )

               Walt Whitman Rostow, former National Security Advisor (United States)

               Donald Rumsfeld (1975, 2002), Secretary of Defense, 2001 – 2006

               Dean Rusk (1955, 1957, 1966), former United States Secretary of State

               Mark Sanford (2008), current Governor of South Carolina, also attended the Renaissance Weekend

               Hugh Scott (1961, 1966), former US Senator

               Brent Scowcroft (1985, 1988, 1994), former National Security Advisor (United States)

               Kathleen Sebelius (2007, 2008), current Governor of Kansas

               George P. Shultz (2008), former United States Secretary of State, former United States Secretary of the Treasury

               Kristen Silverberg (2007), Bureau of International Organization Affairs, part of the State Department

               William E. Simon (1982), former United States Secretary of the Treasury

               Walter Bedell Smith, former CIA Director

               Nancy Soderberg (1995)

               John Sparkman (1955, 1966), former US Senator

               James Steinberg (1994, 2000), former Deputy National Security Advisor

               Adlai Stevenson III (1971), former US Senator

               Robert Schwarz Strauss (1982, 1989, 1990, 1992), former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee

               Lawrence Summers (1998, 2002, 2008), former United States Secretary of the Treasury

               John H. Sununu (1990), former Governor of New Hampshire

               Shirley Temple (1982), former United States Ambassador, former child actress

               Laura D’Andrea Tyson (1999)

               Cyrus Vance (1971), former United States Secretary of State

               Mark Warner (2005), former Governor of Virginia

               Vin Weber (2007, 2008), former US Congressman

               John C. Whitehead (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989-1997), former United States Deputy Secretary of State

               Christine Todd Whitman (1998), former Governor of New Jersey

               L. Douglas Wilder (1991), former Governor of Virginia, current Mayor of Richmond, Virginia

               Ross Wilson (ambassador) (2007), current United States Ambassador to Turkey

               Paul Wolfowitz (1990, 1994-1998, 2008), former President of the World Bank

               George David Woods (1966), former President of the World Bank

               Philip D. Zelikow (2007), executive director of the 9/11 Commission and Counselor of the United States Department of State

               Robert Zoellick (1991, 2003, 2006, 2008), former Deputy Secretary of State and current President of the World Bank

Canada

               Lester B. Pearson (1964, 1966, 1968), former Prime Minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968

               Pierre Trudeau (1983, 1985), former Prime Minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979, 1980 to 1984

               Jean Chrétien (1982, 1996), Canadian Prime Minister, 1993 – 2003

               Paul Martin (1996), Canadian Prime Minister, 2003 – 2006

               Stephen Harper (2003), Canadian Prime Minister, 2006 – Present

               Bernard Lord (2001), former Premier of New Brunswick

               Robert L. Stanfield (1968), former Premier of Nova Scotia

               Jason Kenney (2007), Canadian Member of Parliament

               Preston Manning (1998), former leader and founder of the Reform Party of Canada

               Lloyd Axworthy (1996), former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada)

               Kevin G. Lynch (2004), Canadian civil servant

               Frank McKenna (1994, 2006, 2008), former Canadian Ambassador to the United States, former Premier of New Brunswick, current Deputy Chairman of Toronto-Dominion Bank

               Michael Wilson (politician) (1991), current Canadian Ambassador to the United States, former Minister of Finance (Canada), former Minister of International Trade (Canada)

               Marc Lalonde (1977), former Minister of Finance (Canada)

               Jacques Parizeau (1968), former Premier of Quebec

               Robert Bourassa (1971), former Premier of Quebec

               Jean Lesage (1966), former Premier of Quebec

               Mike Harris (1996), former Premier of Ontario

               David Peterson (1990), former Premier of Ontario

               Ralph Klein (1995), former Premier of Alberta

               Peter Lougheed (1973), former Premier of Alberta

               Gerald Regan (1977), former Premier of Nova Scotia

               Paul Joseph James Martin (1957, 1966-1968), former Canadian Senator, former Leader of the Government in the Senate (Canada), former Minister of National Health and Welfare (Canada), former Secretary of State for External Affairs (Canada), father of former Prime Minister of Canada,Paul Martin

               Jeanne Sauvé (1974, 1986, 1989), former Governor General of Canada

               Donald S. Macdonald (1971, 1973, 1979-1986, 1988, 1993), former Minister of Finance (Canada), former Minister of National Defence (Canada)

               Allan MacEachen (1983), former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada

               Heather Reisman (2006, 2007, 2008), Canadian businesswoman

               Andre Desmarais, Power Corporation of Canada

United Kingdom

               Gordon Brown (1991), current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

               Tony Blair (1993),[5] former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom[9]

               John Major, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

               Margaret Thatcher (1975),[10] former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

               James Callaghan (1963, 1966), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

               Edward Heath (1963, 1966, 1967), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

               Alec Douglas-Home (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1986), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

               Harold Wilson (1966), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

               Kenneth Clarke (1993, 1998,[11] 2006[12] & 2007[13]), former Chancellor of the Exchequer

               George Osborne (2006)[14] Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer 2004-Present; member of the opposition 2001-Present

               Denis Healey, former Secretary of State for Defence 1963-1970, former Chancellor of the Exchequer 1974-1979 (founding member of Bilderberg)

               Ed Balls (2001-2003), Economic Secretary to the Treasury 2006 – 2007

               Paddy Ashdown (1989), former leader of the UK Liberal Democrats

               Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington (1978, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989-1998), former Secretary-General of NATO

               David Owen (1973, 1982, 1993), former British Foreign Secretary

               Norman Lamont (1995), former Chancellor of the Exchequer

               Nigel Lawson (1982, 1990), former Chancellor of the Exchequer

               William Hague (1998), former leader of the Conservative Party (UK), current Shadow Foreign Secretary

               Sir Malcolm Rifkind (1986, 1996), former British Foreign Secretary

               Douglas Hurd (1980, 1981), former British Foreign Secretary

               Cecil Parkinson (1989), former Chairman of the Conservative Party

               Michael Heseltine (1984), former Secretary of State for Defence

               Roy Jenkins, former President of the European Commission

               Reginald Maudling (1955, 1957, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1978), former Chancellor of the Exchequer

               Hugh Gaitskell (1954, 1955, 1958), former leader of the Labour Party (UK)

               William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill (1987, 1988, 1990, 1995)

               John Smith (UK politician) (1986, 1989, 1991), former leader of the British Labour Party

               William Rodgers, Baron Rodgers of Quarry Bank (1974)

               Clement Davies (1954, 1955, 1957), former leader of the Liberal Party (UK)

               Jo Grimond (1958, 1966), former leader of the Liberal Party (UK)

               Jeremy Thorpe, former leader of the Liberal Party (UK)

               David Steel (1986), former leader of the Liberal Party (UK)

               David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick (1995, 1998 )

               Geoffrey Rippon (1974)

               David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech (1958, 1966), former British Ambassador to the United States

               Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1965, 1966)

               Christopher Price (UK politician), former Labour Party (UK) Member of Parliament, former member of the European Parliament

               Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury (1997)

               Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham (1964, 1966)

               George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1971)

               Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone (1967)

               George Brown, Baron George-Brown (1966, 1978 )

               Enoch Powell (1968 )

               Kenneth Younger (1966)

               John Horam (1975)

               John Nott (1977), former Secretary of State for Defence

               Edmund Dell (1978 )

               Keith Joseph (1977)

               Rodric Braithwaite (1993)

               Frederic Bennett (1963, 1964, 1966-1968, 1971, 1973-1975, 1977-1980, 1984)

               John Keegan (1988), British military historian

               John Monks (1996) , former General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress

               Charles Forte, Baron Forte (1977)

               Sir Patrick Sheehy Professor of International Relations (1985, 1986, 1993)

               Giles Radice, Baron Radice (1995)

               Philip Gould, Baron Gould of Brookwood (2003)

               Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn (2002, 2003)

               Pauline Neville-Jones, Baroness Neville-Jones (2004)

               Rodney Elton, 2nd Baron Elton (1977)

               Harold Lever, Baron Lever of Manchester (1977, 1985), former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

               John Baring, 7th Baron Ashburton (1980, 1984, 1986), former Chairman of British Petroleum

               David Young, Baron Young of Graffham (1985, 1986)

               John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover (1982, 1983, 1984, 1986)

               William Rees-Mogg (1993)

               George Weidenfeld (1992)

               Roy Hattersley (1985)

               Norman Tebbit (1985)

               Richard Dearlove (2007), former head of MI6

               Eric Roll (1964, 1966, 1967, 1973-1975, 1977-1999) (Bilderberg Steering Committee),[15] Department of Economic Affairs, 1964, later Bilderberg Group Chairman

               John Kerr, Baron Kerr of Kinlochard (2004, 2008), member of the House of Lords, Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell

               Antony Acland (1988), former British Ambassador to the United States

               Lawrence Freedman (1991), Professor, Oxford University

Ireland

               Garret FitzGerald (1975, 1977, 1984, 1985, 1987), former Prime Minister of Ireland

               John Bruton (1998), former Prime Minister of Ireland

               Michael McDowell (1992, 2007), founding member of the Progressive Democrats of Ireland

               Paul Gallagher (2008), Attorney General of Ireland

Germany

               Egon Bahr (1968, 1971, 1982, 1987), German Minister, creator of the Ostpolitik

               Rainer Barzel (1966), former German opposition leader

               Kurt Biedenkopf (1992), former Prime Minister of Saxony

               Max Brauer (1954, 1955, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1966), former Mayor of Hamburg

               Birgit Breuel (1973, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1992, 1994), chairwoman of Treuhandanstalt

               Andreas von Bülow (1978), former Minister of Research of Germany

               Karl Carstens (1971), former President of Germany

               Klaus von Dohnanyi (1975, 1977), former Mayor of Hamburg

               Ursula Engelen-Kefer (1998), former chairwoman of the German Confederation of Trade Unions

               Björn Engholm (1991), former Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein

               Ludwig Erhard (1966), former Chancellor of Germany

               Fritz Erler (1955, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1966), Socialist Member of Parliament

               Joschka Fischer (2008), former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Germany)

               Herbert Giersch (1975), Director, Institut fur Weltwirtschaft an der Universitat Kiel

               Helmut Haussmann (1979, 1980, 1990, 1996), former Minister of Economics of Germany

               Wolfgang Ischinger (1998, 2002, 2008), former German Ambassador to Washington

               Helmut Kohl (1980, 1982, 1988), former Chancellor of Germany

               Walter Leisler Kiep (1974, 1975, 1977, 1980), former Treasurer of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

               Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1955, 1957, 1966), former Chancellor of Germany

               Hans Klein (1986), Member of German Bundestag

               Otto Graf Lambsdorff (1980, 1983, 1984), former Minister of Economics of Germany

               Karl Lamers (1995), Member of the German Bundestag

               Angela Merkel (2005), current Chancellor of Germany

               Alois Mertes (1983, 1985)

               Siegmar Mosdorf (2001), Secretary of State for Economics in Germany

               Alfred Müller-Armack (1966), Secretary of State for Economics in Germany

               Volker Perthes (2008), Director, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik

               Friedbert Pflüger (2005, 2006), Member of the German Bundestag

               Ruprecht Polenz (2002)

               Volker Rühe (1983, 1991-1994), former Defense Minister of Germany

               Rudolf Scharping, former Defense Minister of Germany

               Wolfgang Schäuble (2003), current Minister of Internal Affairs of Germany

               Walter Scheel (1981-84, 1986), former President of Germany

               Karl Schiller (1966), former Finance Minister of Germany

               Otto Schily (2003-2006), former Minister of Internal Affairs of Germany

               Carlo Schmid (1955, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1966), former Vice President of the Federal Parliament

               Helmut Schmidt (1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1986), former Chancellor of Germany

               Gerhard Schröder (CDU) (1971, 1974), former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Germany), former Minister of Defence (Germany)

               Gerhard Stoltenberg (1966, 1968), former Minister of Germany and Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein

               Franz Josef Strauß (1963, 1966), former Minister of Germany and Prime Minister of Bavaria

               Lothar Späth (1993), former Prime Minister of Baden-Wurttemberg

               Erwin Teufel (1991), former Prime Minister of Baden-Wurttemberg

               Henning Voscherau (1996), former Mayor of Hamburg

               Richard von Weizsäcker (1978), former President of Germany

               Guido Westerwelle (2007), leader of the Free Democratic Party of Germany

               Hans-Jürgen Wischnewski (1971, 1973, 1974, 1978), former Secretary of State in the Chancellor’s Office of Germany

               Matthias Wissmann (1998, 2004, 2005), former Minister of Research of Germany

Austria

               Otto von Habsburg, Archduke and Crown Prince of Austria

               Alfred Gusenbauer (2002, 2006), current Chancellor of Austria

               Wolfgang Schussel (1984), former Chancellor of Austria

               Franz Vranitzky (1975, 1979, 1986-1991, 1993, 1995-1999), former Austrian Chancellor

               Bruno Kreisky (1979), former Austrian Chancellor

               Thomas Klestil (1988), former President of Austria

               Martin Bartenstein (2006), Austrian Minister for Economy and Labour

               Josef Krainer (1989), former Governor of Styria

Switzerland

               Flavio Cotti (1994-1997), former President of the Swiss Confederation

               Pascal Couchepin (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005), current President of the Swiss Confederation

               Jean-Pascal Delamuraz (1995), former President of the Swiss Confederation

               Max Petitpierre (1963, 1966), former President of the Swiss Confederation

               Jacob Kellenberger (1993), former Swiss State Secretary of Foreign Affairs

               Sigmund Widmer (1975), former Mayor of Zürich

               Denis de Rougemont (1954, 1955, 1966)

France

               Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (1968, 2003), former President of the French Republic

               Lionel Jospin (1996), former Prime Minister of France

               Georges Pompidou (1966), former President of the French Republic

               Dominique de Villepin (2003), former Prime Minister of France

               Laurent Fabius (1994), former Prime Minister of France

               Michel Rocard (1986), former Prime Minister of France

               Pierre Bérégovoy (1992), former Prime Minister of France

               Edouard Balladur (1987), former Prime Minister of France

               Raymond Barre (1983), former Prime Minister of France

               Edgar Faure (1974), former Prime Minister of France

               René Pleven (1963, 1966), former Prime Minister of France

               Pierre Mendes-France (1968), former Prime Minister of France

               Antoine Pinay (1954, 1955, 1963, 1964, 1966), former Prime Minister of France

               Jean-Bernard Raimond (1994), former French Foreign Minister

               Jean Francois-Poncet (1982, 1985, 1988), former French Foreign Minister

               Michel Barnier (2007), former French Foreign Minister

               Hubert Védrine (1987, 1992, 2008), former French Foreign Minister

               Bernard Kouchner (2005), current Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)

               Manuel Valls (2008), French Member of Parliament

               Jean-Pierre Jouyet (2008), French Minister of European Affairs

               Jean-Pierre Chevenement (1984, 1990), former Minister of Defense (France)

               Jacques Attali (1975), French economist and scholar and former presidential adviser of France’s socialist government

               Gaston Defferre (1964, 1966), former Mayor of Marseille

               Maurice Herzog (1974), former Mayor of Chamonix

               Philippe Seguin (1990), former Mayor of Epinal

               Jean-Pierre Cot (1977), French politician, former Mayor of Coise

               Olivier Guichard (1966, 1977), French politician, former French Minister of Justice

               Guy Mollet (1954, 1955, 1957, 1963, 1966), former Socialist Prime Minister of France

               Maurice Faure (1955, 1963, 1966)

               Jacques Rueff (1966)

Belgium

               Paul Van Zeeland (1955-1958, 1966), former Prime Minister of Belgium

               Leo Tindemans (1980), former Prime Minister of Belgium

               Wilfried Martens (1989-1991, 1993), former Prime Minister of Belgium

               Jean-Luc Dehaene (2004), former Prime Minister of Belgium

               Philippe Maystadt (1996), former Belgian Minister of Finance

Netherlands

               Jan-Peter Balkenende (2008), current Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 2002 – present

               Ruud Lubbers (1983, 1991, 1992, 1994), former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 1982 – 1994

               Wim Kok (1993, 2003), former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 1994 – 2002

               Barend Biesheuvel (1968), former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 1971 – 1973

               Jelle Zijlstra (1966, 1975), former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, 1966 – 1967

               Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst (1974, 1981), former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs

               Max van der Stoel (1980), former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1973 – 1977, 1981 – 1982

               Jozias van Aartsen (2005), former Dutch Minister of Agriculture, 1994 – 1998, former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1998 – 2002

               Maxime Verhagen (2006, 2008), current Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2007 – present

               Frank Heemskerk (2007), Dutch Minister of Foreign Trade

               Frans Timmermans (2008), Dutch Minister of European Affairs

               Klaas de Vries (2003), Dutch Member of Parliament

               Ivo Samkalden (1963, 1966), former Mayor of Amsterdam

               Harold Goddijn (2008), CEO of TomTom

Italy

               Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (1987), former President of the Italian Republic, former Governor of the Banca d’Italia

               Francesco Cossiga (1977), former President of the Italian Republic

               Amintore Fanfani (1955, 1956, 1966), former Italian Prime Minister

               Alcide de Gasperi (1954), former Italian Prime Minister

               Claudio Martelli, former Italian Minister of Justice

               Gianni De Michelis (1991), former Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs

               Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa (1986, 1998, 1999, 2008), former Italian Minister of Economy and Finance

               Romano Prodi (Steering Committee Member of Bilderberg in the 1980s), former Italian Prime Minister and former President of the European Commission

               Virginio Rognoni (1982, 1991), former Italian Minister of Defense

               Mariano Rumor (1966), former Italian Prime Minister

               Domenico Siniscalco (1998), former Italian Minister of Economy and Finance

               Giulio Tremonti (2000), current Italian Minister of Economy and Finance

               Walter Veltroni (1996), former Mayor of Rome

Spain

               Esperanza Aguirre Gil de Biedma (1999, 2000), president of Madrid

               Joaquin Almunia (1998, 2008), European Commissioner for Economic & Financial Affairs

               Enrique Barón (1988), politician

               Jaime de Carvajal y Urquijo (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998), CEO, Ford Spain, Ericsson Spain and Banco Urquijo.

               Juan Luis Cebrián (1988, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005), former director of newspaper El País, CEO, Grupo Prisa

               Guillermo de la Dehesa (1989, 1993), CEO, Banco Pastor

               Carlos Ferret Salat (1993), banker

               Manuel Fraga Iribarne (1977), politician, former Secretary General, Alianza Popular

               Felipe Gonzalez (1989), former Prime Minister of Spain

               Loyola de Palacio (2005), politician

               Jesús de Polanco (1989), CEO, media group PRISA

               Jordi Pujol (1991), politician

               Rodrigo Rato (1992, 1994), politician and former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund

               Matías Rodríguez Inciarte (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001-2008), Deputy CEO, Grupo Santander

               Miguel Boyer Salvador (1989), former Finance Minister of Spain

               Miguel Sebastián Gascón (2005), former Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister and Minister of Industry (2008-…)

               Narcís Serra (1990, 1991, 1992), politician

               Javier Solana (1985, 1998, 2000), Secretary-General of the Council of the EU, former Secretary-General of NATO

               Pedro Solbes Mira (1999), Second Vice President and Minister of Economy and Finance

               Federico Trillo-Figueroa Martínez-Conde (1995), politician

               Juan Antonio Yañez-Barnuevo (1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996), Spanish Permanent Representatives to the United Nations

               Emilio de Ybarra y Clurruca (1988, 1989), former CEO, BBVA

Portugal

               Francisco Pinto Balsemão (1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995-2007) ,[16] former Prime Minister of Portugal, 1981 – 1983 and CEO of Impresa media group

               António Guterres (1990, 2005), former Prime Minister of Portugal, currently the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

               Pedro Santana Lopes (2004), former Prime Minister of Portugal

               José Sócrates (2004), current Prime Minister of Portugal

               Jorge Sampaio (1989, 1999), former President of Portugal

               Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues (2003), former Leader of the Socialist Party

               António Costa (2008), current Mayor of Lisbon

               Rui Rio (2008), current Mayor of Porto

               Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco (2006),[16] Member of Parliament (PSD)

               Augusto Santos Silva (2006),[16] Minister for Parliamentary Affairs

               Rui Machete (1989), former Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal

               Joaquim do Amaral (1999), Member of Parliament

               Manuel Sarmento Rodrigues (1966)

Greece

               Kostas Karamanlis (1998), current Prime Minister of Greece

               Constantine Mitsotakis (1993), former Prime Minister of Greece

               Georgios Alogoskoufis (2008), current Minister for Economy and Finance (Greece)

               Dora Bakoyannis (2003), current Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece), former Mayor of Athens

               Anna Diamantopoulou (2008), Member of Parliament in Greece and former EU Commissioner

               George Andreas Papandreou (1998), former Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece), President of the Socialist International

               Gerasimos Arsenis (1994), former Minister of Defense of Greece

               Stefanos Manos (1986, 1993, 2001), Greek politician

               Andreas Andrianopoulos (1988), former Mayor of Piraeus

Turkey

               Süleyman Demirel (1975), former Prime Minister of Turkey

               Bülent Ecevit (1975), former Prime Minister of Turkey

               Adnan Menderes (1956), former Prime Minister of Turkey

               Mesut Yilmaz (1990), former Prime Minister of Turkey

               Selim Sarper (1966), former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey

               İsmail Cem (1989, 1998), former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey

               Hikmet Çetin (1995, 2007), former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP)

               Emre Gönensay (1992, 1996, 2007), former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey

               Ali Babacan (2003, 2004, 2007, 2008), current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey

Sweden

               Fredrik Reinfeldt (2006), Prime Minister of Sweden, 2006 – present

               Carl Bildt[3] (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2006-2008), former Prime Minister of Sweden and current Minister for Foreign Affairs

               Olof Palme (1962, 1966, 1973, 1975, 1984), former Prime Minister of Sweden

               Percy Barnevik (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001), Businessman

               Mona Sahlin (1996), Chairman of the Swedish Social Democratic Party, (Invited by Percy Barnevik)

               Thorbjörn Fälldin (1978), former Prime Minister of Sweden

               Tage Erlander (1962, 1966), former Prime Minister of Sweden

               Leif Pagrotsky (2001), former Swedish Minister for Education, Research and Culture [1];

               Anders Borg (2007), current Minister for Finance of Sweden

               Herbert Tingsten (1954, 1955, 1966), former Chief Editor, Dagens Nyheter

               Martin Waldenström (1955), Industrialist

               Björn Lundvall (1968, 1975, 1977-1980) (LM Ericsson)

               Anna Lindh (2003), former Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)

               Göran Persson (2001), former Prime Minister of Sweden

               Gunnar Sträng (1973), former Minister for Finance of Sweden

               Krister Wickman (1973, 1974, 1975, 1977), former Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)

               Hans Blix (1989), former Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)

               Maud Olofsson (2008), Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden

Norway

               Gro Harlem Brundtland (1982, 1983), former Prime Minister of Norway

               Kåre Willoch (1966, 1968, 1982, 1987), former Prime Minister of Norway

               Trygve Bratteli (1977), former Prime Minister of Norway

               Jens Stoltenberg, (2002), current Prime Minister of Norway

               Siv Jensen (2006), Chairman Fremskrittspartiet

               Johann Olav Koss (2006)

               Halvard Lange (1964), former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Norway)

               Ole Myrvoll (1974), former Minister of Finance (Norway), former Mayor of Bergen

               Svein Gjedrem (2003), Chairman of Norges Bank 1999 – present

Denmark

               Anders Fogh Rasmussen (2000), current Prime Minister of Denmark

               Mogens Lykketoft (1998), former leader of the Social Democrats of Denmark

               Tøger Seidenfaden (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999), editor-in-chief of Danish newspaper “Politiken”

               Ritt Bjerregaard (1991, 1995), former Danish Secretary of Education, EU Commissioner and currently Mayor of Copenhagen

               Anders Eldrup (2001-2007, 2008), CEO, Danish Oil and Gas Corporation (DONG)[citation needed]

               Flemming Rose (2008), editor, Jyllands-Posten

Finland

               Jaakko Iloniemi (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990-1997)

               Ilkka Suominen (1988 )

               Aatos Erkko (1991)

               Jarl Köhler (1992-1994)

               Ulf L. Sundqvist (1992)

               Johannes Koroma (1993)

               Jorma Ollila (1994, 1997-2008), former CEO of Nokia

               Krister Ahlström (1994)

               Georg Ehrnrooth (1994)

               Sirkka Hämäläinen (1994)

               Jaakko Ihamuotila (1994)

               Max Jakobson (1975, 1994)

               Gerhard M. H. Wendt (1994)

               Jukka Harmaja (1995)

               Björn Mattsson (1995)

               Pertti Voutilainen (1995)

               Janne Virkkunen (1998, 2001)

               Olli-Pekka Heinonen (2001)

               Christoffer Taxell (2002)

               Teija H. Tiilikainen (2002-2007)

               Olli Kivinen (2003)

               Björn Whalroos (2003)

               Paula Lehtomäki (2004)

               Erkki Liikanen (1999, 2005)

               Matti Vanhala (1999)

               Pentti Vartia (1999)

               Mikael Pentikäinen (2005)

               Eero Heinäluoma (2006)

               Sixten Korkman (2006)

               Atte Jääskeläinen (2007)

               Kalevi Sorsa (1990), former Prime Minister of Finland

               Esko Aho (1994), former Prime Minister of Finland

               Paavo Lipponen (1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004), former Prime Minister of Finland

               Matti Vanhanen, current Prime Minister of Finland

               Martti Ahtisaari (1994, 1995, 1996), former President of Finland

               Sauli Niinistö (1997)[3], former Minister of Finance (Finland), Speaker of Parliament

               Jyrki Katainen (2007), current Minister of Finance (Finland)

Iceland

               Davíð Oddsson (1987, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999), former Prime Minister of Iceland, 1991-2004

               Geir Hallgrímsson (1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984-1988, 1990), former Prime Minister of Iceland

               Björn Bjarnason (1977, 1978, 1982-1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995), vice editor of Morgunblaðið (1984 – 1991), Icelandic Minister of Education (1995 – 2002), current Minister for Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs (since 2003)

Russia

               Anatoly Chubais (1998), Russian politician

               Grigory Alexeyevich Yavlinsky (2004), Russian politician

Slovakia

               Ivan Mikloš (2005), former Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia

Czech Republic

               Karel Schwarzenberg (2008), Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs

               Jiří Pehe (2001), Director, New York University in Prague; former advisor to President Václav Havel

               Michael Žantovský (1999), Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security, Czech Senate, presently Czech Ambassador in Israel

               Karel Kovanda (1998), Head of Mission of the Czech Republic to NATO and the WEU, presently Deputy Director General responsible for CFSP, Multilateral Relations and North America, East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, EEA, EFTA

Poland

               Joseph Retinger (1954-1960), founder of Bilderberg Group

               Hanna Suchocka (1998), first woman Prime Minister of Poland

               Andrzej Olechowski (1994-1999, 2003), Leader, Civic Platform

               Aleksander Kwaśniewski (2008), former President of Poland

Hungary

               János Martonyi (2008), former Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor of International Trade Law, Partner, Baker & McKenzie

               Gyorgy Suranyi (1996, 1997, 1999), former President, Hungarian National Bank

Israel

               Natan Sharansky (2005)

Iran

               Mahmood Sariolghalam (2006)

Iraq

               Ahmed Chalabi (2006)

New Zealand

               Thomas Clifton Webb (1955)

EU Commissioners

European Union Commissioners who have attended include:

               Joaquin Almunia (1998, 2008), European Commissioner for Economic & Financial Affairs

               José Manuel Barroso (1994, 2003), current President of the European Commission

               Ritt Bjerregaard (1991, 1995), Lord Mayor of Copenhagen and former European Commissioner for Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection[9]

               Frederik Bolkestein (1996, 2003),[17] former European Commissioner

               Emma Bonino (1998 )

               Leon Brittan (1992, 1998 )

               Hans van den Broek (1986, 1988, 1991, 1995),[9] former European Commissioner

               David Byrne (politician) (2005), former European Commissioner

               Henning Christophersen (1979, 1982, 1983)

               Étienne Davignon (1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994-2008), Bilderberg conference chairman in 2005

               Jacques Delors (1992), former President of the European Commission

               Franz Fischler (2001), former European Commissioner

               Walter Hallstein (1955, 1958, 1966), former President of the European Commission

               Neelie Kroes (2005 – 2008), present Commissioner for Competition

               Pascal Lamy (2003)[17]

               Erkki Liikanen (1999, 2005)

               Franco Maria Malfatti (1964, 1966, 1974), former President of the European Commission

               Peter Mandelson (1999[18])

               Sicco Mansholt (1963, 1964, 1966), former President of the European Commission

               Robert Marjolin (1966), former European Commissioner

               Charlie McCreevy (2008), European Commissioner

               Karel Van Miert (1993), former European Commissioner

               Mario Monti (1983-1994, 1996, 1999, 2003[17]) ,former and/or present member of the Bilderberg Steering Committee[9]

               Francois-Xavier Ortoli (1977), former President of the European Commission

               Filippo Pandolfi (1989)

               Lord Patten of Barnes (2007)

               Andris Piebalgs (2006), European Commissioner for Energy

               Romano Prodi, Steering Committee Member of Bilderberg in the 1980s

               Olli Rehn (2007), European Commissioner for Enlargement

               Jean Rey (1966), former President of the European Commission

               Jacques Santer (1991), former President of the European Commission

               Henri Simonet (1971, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982), former Vice Chairman of the European Commission

               Javier Solana (1985, 1998, 2000), High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the Secretary-General of both the Council of the European Union (EU) and the Western European Union (WEU)

               Pedro Solbes (1999)

               Günter Verheugen (1995)

               António Vitorino (1996)

UN, WTO, NATO and other International Organizations

               Josette Sheeran (2007), Executive Director of United Nations World Food Programme

               Kurt Waldheim, former United Nations Secretary-General

               Kemal Derviş (2002), current United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator

               Ad Melkert (1996), current UNDP Associate Administrator

               Thorvald Stoltenberg (1973, 1982, 1994, 1995), former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

               Muhammad Zafrulla Khan (1955, 1966), Pakistani politician, diplomat and international jurist

               Knut Vollebæk (2008), OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities

               Eric Wyndham White (1964, 1966), former Director-General of the World Trade Organization

               Arthur Dunkel (1991), former Director-General of the World Trade Organization

               Mike Moore (2000), former Director-General of the World Trade Organization

               Renato Ruggiero (1986, 1987, 1990-1996), former Director-General of the World Trade Organization

               Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (2003, 2008), current Secretary General of NATO

               George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen (1998), former Secretary General of NATO[9]

               Willy Claes (1994, 1995, 2003), former Secretary General of NATO

               Manfred Wörner (1982, 1985, 1990-1993), former Secretary General of NATO

               Joseph Luns (1964, 1966-1968, 1971, 1973-1975, 1977, 1978-1984), former Secretary General of NATO

               Manlio Brosio (1965-1967), former Secretary General of NATO

               Dirk Stikker (1964, 1966), former Secretary General of NATO

               Paul-Henri Spaak (1963, 1966), former Secretary General of NATO

               Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay (1955), former Secretary General of NATO

Military

               Terence Airey (1955, 1966), Military Governor of Trieste

               Colin Gubbins (1955, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1966), head of the British SOE[19]

               Hans Speidel (1964, 1966), former World War II and Cold War general

Corporate

Financial institutions

               Hermann Josef Abs (1958, 1966), former Chairman of Deutsche Bank

               Josef Ackermann (2005, 2008), CEO of Deutsche Bank

               Ben S. Bernanke (2008), current Chairman of the Federal Reserve

               Michel Camdessus, former IMF Managing Director

               Guido Carli (1958, 1965, 1966, 1975, 1977, 1987), former Governor of the Banca d’Italia

               Tim Collins (financier) (2003, 2008), founder, Chief Executive Officer of Ripplewood Holdings LLC

               E. Gerald Corrigan (1994), former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, current Goldman Sachs Managing Director

               Mario Draghi (1994, 1995, 2004, 2008), current Governor of the Banca d’Italia

               Wim Duisenberg (1977, 1978-1983, 1986), former President of the European Central Bank

               Otmar Emminger (1966), former President of the Deutsche Bundesbank

               Timothy F. Geithner (2004, 2008), current President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York

               Dermot Gleeson (1995, 2008), Chairman of Allied Irish Banks

               Alan Greenspan (2002), former Chairman of the Federal Reserve

               Alfred Herrhausen (1978-1985, 1987, 1988), German banker, former Chairman of Deutsche Bank

               Kenneth Jacobs (2007, 2008), Deputy Chairman, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC

               Per Jacobsson (1957), former IMF Managing Director

               James A. Johnson (businessman) (1998, 2008), Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC

               Mervyn A. King (2003), current Governor of the Bank Of England

               Hilmar Kopper (1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998-2003, 2005), former CEO of Deutsche Bank

               Alexandre Lamfalussy (1983, 1986, 1988, 1992), former General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements

               Thomas S. Lamont (1957), former Vice Chairman, Morgan Guaranty Trust

               Jacques de Larosière (1982), former Governor of the Banque de France

               William J McDonough (1997)[3], former President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

               Tom McKillop (2008), Chairman, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group

               Karl Otto Pöhl (1982, 1991), former President of the Deutsche Bundesbank

               Jürgen Ponto (1975), German banker, former Chairman of Dresdner Bank

               John Francis Prideaux (1974), former Chairman, National Westminster Bank

               Louis Rasminsky (1968), former Governor of the Bank of Canada

               Rodrigo Rato (1992, 1994), former IMF Managing Director

               Gordon Richardson (1966, 1975),[20] former Governor of the Bank of England

               David Rockefeller, CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank

               Emma Rothschild (1995)

               Sir Evelyn de Rothschild (1983, 1998 )

               Guy de Rothschild (1974)

               Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild

               Lynn Forester de Rothschild (1998 )

               Rudolf Scholten (1992, 1999-2001, 2003-2008), CEO of Oesterreichische Kontrollbank

               Pierre-Paul Schweitzer (1964, 1966), former IMF Managing Director

               George Soros (1990, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2002)

               Dominique Strauss-Kahn (2000), Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and member of the social-democrat Socialist Party of France

               Jean-Claude Trichet (1995, 1999, 2008), current President of the European Central Bank

               Anthony Tuke (1974), former President, Barclays Bank

               Alfons Verplaetse (1990), former Governor of the National Bank of Belgium

               Paul Volcker (1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1997)[3], former Chairman of the Federal Reserve

               Marcus Wallenberg (1996, 1997), current Chairman of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, former CEO of Investor AB

               Jacob Wallenberg (1998, 2008), current Chairman of Investor AB, former Chairman of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken

               Siegmund Warburg (1966, 1977), founder of S. G. Warburg & Co.

               Eric Warburg (1957), founder of Warburg Pincus

               James Wolfensohn (1985, 1987, 1988, 1989-1999, 2004, 2008), former President of the World Bank Group

Major corporations

               Giovanni Agnelli (1958, 1963, 1964, 1966-1968, 1973-1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987-1998, 2000), former CEO of Fiat

               Otto Wolff von Amerongen (1955, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1966-1968, 1971, 1973-1975, 1977-1980, 1982-2001), CEO of Otto Wolff Group (today: Part of ThyssenKrupp)

               Dwayne Andreas (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987-1996), Chairman and CEO of Archer Daniels Midland

               Percy Barnevik (1992-1996, 1997,[3] 2001), former CEO of ASEA

               Anders Björgerd (1973, 1982), former deputy CEO of Sydkraft AB

               Lloyd Blankfein (2007), CEO of Goldman Sachs

               Ian Bremmer (2007), President of Eurasia Group

               Lord Browne of Madingley (1995, 1997,[3] 2004), Chief Executive BP

               Gerhard Cromme (2000), former CEO and Chairman of ThyssenKrupp

               Paul Desmarais (1982)

               Paul Desmarais, Jr. (2006, 2008), Chairman and co-CEO of Power Corporation of Canada

               John Elkann (2008), vice chairman of Fiat and the Agnelli Group investment company IFIL

               Louis V. Gerstner (1994, 1997), former Chairman of IBM, current Chairman of The Carlyle Group

               Maurice R. Greenberg (1989-1991), former Chairman and CEO of American International Group

               H. J. Heinz II (1954)[8], CEO of H. J. Heinz Company

               Paul Hermelin (2007), CEO of Capgemini

               Daniel Janssen (1971, 1973-1975, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1995), former Chairman of the Executive Committee, Solvay (company), former vice president of the board, Union Chimique Belge, member of the European Round Table of Industrialists, member of Trilateral Commission executive committee

               James Kimsey (2006), co-founder, CEO, and first chairman of America Online (AOL)

               Andrew Knight (1978, 1980-1985, 1987-1996), Director of News Corporation, 1991-present, CEO of News International, 1900-1994, CEO and Editor-in-Chief The Daily Telegraph Group, Editor of The Economist, 1974-1984

               Klaus Kleinfeld (2008), CEO of Siemens AG

               Rahmi Koç (1994), Turkish business tycoon

               Idar Kreutzer (2007), CEO of Storebrand

               Craig Mundie (2008), chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft

               Egil Myklebust (1997, 2006, 2008), Chairman of the Board of SAS Group

               Stavros Niarchos (1967, 1968), Greek shipping tycoon

               Harald Norvik (2006), former CEO of Statoil

               Jorma Ollila (1997,[3] 2005, 2008), Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and Nokia Corporation

               Eivind Reiten (2000), former CEO of Norsk Hydro

               Eric E. Schmidt (2007, 2008), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Google

               Jürgen E. Schrempp (1994-1996, 1997,[3] 1998, 1999, 2001-2005, 2006, 2007), former CEO of DaimlerChrysler

               Ekkehard Schulz (2002, 2005, 2006), CEO of ThyssenKrupp

               Peter Sutherland (1989-1996, 1997,[3] 2005), former Chairman of BP

               Sidney Taurel (2007), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eli Lilly

               Martin Taylor (1993-1996, 1997),[3] former CEO, Barclays

               Peter A. Thiel (2007, 2008), Co-Founder, PayPal

               Daniel Vasella (1998, 1999, 2005, 2008), Chairman and CEO of Novartis

               Jürgen Weber (2004), Chairman of Lufthansa Airline

               Klaus Zumwinkel (2002-2006), former CEO of Deutsche Post AG

University, institute and other academic

               Heather Munroe-Blum (1997), Principal and Vice-Chancellor, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

               Marie-Josée Kravis (1998, 1999, 2008), Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

               C. Fred Bergsten (1971, 1974, 1984, 1997)[3], President, Peterson Institute

               Walter Isaacson (2004), President, Aspen Institute

               Bruce MacLaury (1977), former President, Brookings Institution

               Victor Halberstadt (1975, 1977, 1978-1999, 2008), Professor of Economics, Leiden University, Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings, Netherlands

               Klaus Schwab (1995-1997), founder of the World Economic Forum

               Laurence Parisot (2007), Head of French MEDEF

               Marshall McLuhan, Canadian Professor of English literature, literary critic, and communications theorist

               Michael Boskin (1991), Professor of Economics and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution

               William Kristol (1995), co-founder of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), member of the American Enterprise Institute, the Manhattan Institute and the Ethics and Public Policy Center

               Graham Allison (1970, 1971, 1974, 2007), Harvard political scientist and leading analyst of U.S. national security and defense policy with a special interest in nuclear weapons and terrorism

               Eberhard Sandschneider (2004), political scientist, Director of the Research Institute of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für auswärtige Politik, expert on China

               Fouad Ajami (2006, 2008), Director, Middle East Studies Program, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

               Barnett Rubin (2008), Director of Studies and Senior Fellow, Center for International Cooperation, New York University

               Chester A. Crocker (2008), James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies

               Martha Farah (2008), Director, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience; Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences, University of Pennsylvania

               Roger Martin (2008), Dean, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

               Jeffrey Sachs (1990), Professor, Harvard University

               John Polanyi (1991), Professor of Chemistry, University of Toronto

               Gerald L. Curtis (1990), Professor of Political Science, Columbia University

               Aurelio Peccei (1963, 1964, 1966-1968), founder of the Club of Rome

               Lester Thurow (1977), Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School, former Dean, MIT Sloan School of Management

               Paul Samuelson (1966, 1970), American Economist, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

               Andrew W. Cordier (1966, 1970), former President of Columbia University

               Theodore M. Hesburgh (1975), former President, Notre Dame University

Media

               Michael Barone (pundit) (2007), journalist

               John G. Bernander (2002), former head of the Norwegian national broadcaster NRK

               Lord Black of Crossharbour (1981, 1983, 1985-1996, 1997)[3],Telegraph Chairman

               Oscar Bronner (2005-2007, 2008), Editor of the Austrian newspaper Der Standard

               William F. Buckley, Jr. (1975, 1996), founder of National Review and former host of Firing Line

               Hubert Burda (1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005-2007), Owner and CEO of Hubert Burda Media

               Phillip Crawley (2006), Globe and Mail Publisher

               Mathias Döpfner (2005-2007), CEO of Axel Springer AG, editing amongst others Die Welt and Bild

               Esther Dyson (2007), commentator on emerging digital technology

               Paul Finney (1977), former Managing Editor, Business Week

               Donald E. Graham (1999, 2008), Chairman of the Board of The Washington Post Company

               Josef Joffe (1993, 2006), Publisher of Die Zeit

               Rupert Murdoch (1982, 1988 )

               Christine Ockrent (1984, 2007, 2008), former first anchor of the 8pm news on the Antenne 2 French TV channel

               Anthony O’Reilly (1983), Irish media tycoon

               Norman Podhoretz (1996), Editor, Commentary

               George Stephanopoulos (1996, 1997[3]), ABC News’s Chief Washington Correspondent, host of ABC’s This Week, senior political adviser to the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign of Bill Clinton and former communications director for Clinton.

               Arthur Hays Sulzberger (1956, 1957, 1966)

               Arthur Taylor (1977), former President, CBS

               Ben J. Wattenberg (1982)

               Mortimer Zuckerman (1994), publisher/owner of the New York Daily News, current Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report

Journalists

               Alexandre Adler (2003), French conservative journalist

               Paul Gigot (1996, 2008), Editor of the Editorial Page of The Wall Street Journal 2003- present

               Martin Wolf (1999-2001, 2003-2006), Financial Times columnist

               Juan Luis Cebrián (1983, 1985, 1987-1990, 1993, 2008), Ex-director of El País Spanish daily newspaper and CEO of PRISA Group

               Will Hutton (1997)[5]

               Peter Jennings (1995)

               George Will (1978, 1981)

               Charlie Rose (2002, 2008 )

               Fareed Zakaria (2002, 2005)

               Andrea Mitchell (2002)

               Lesley Stahl (1989, 1997)

               Thomas L. Friedman (1995, 2003)

               Bill D. Moyers (1967, 1968, 1971, 1973)

               Jim Hoagland (1993, 1998, 1999, 2002)

               Vendeline A. H. von Bredow (2006-2008), Business Correspondent for The Economist

               Adrian D. Wooldridge (2004-2008), Foreign Correspondent for The Economist

Where Did I Come From?

September 28, 2008

“Where did I come from?” This is a common question, especially among children and the deep-thinking. With that come many other inquiries. “What am I here for?” “Where do I belong?” “How will I end up?” All valid questions, yet none are easily answered.

 

For as long as history is recorded, men have tried to grasp the concept of our origin. Some believe we were born from a sun. Some believe we are the product of an extra-terrestrial race that left us here. Some believe that we don’t actually exist, we just think we do. Yet others believe that there was nothing, and then nothing exploded and formed the galaxy, which produced on our rock called earth these: water, slime, and plants. Of those three we supposedly grew and changed into fish, then eventually monkeys, and finally humans.

 

Of course there is one more belief. One so well written that it cannot be disputed. I’m speaking of course of the belief in Creation, the author- God. Why can no man dispute it? If nothing else, because it relies on the faith that Creator God made everything all in six days. Since we cannot, as simple, sinful, mortal men, directly ask or even demand that He show us proof, we continue on the basis of faith that the Word He has already given us is true. That, and also that we have no concrete evidence to the contrary, only theory and speculation.

 

Of these, the most fought about are the theories of Creation by a single Creator, and the theory of a Big Bang leading to evolution. No matter which side you are on, neither can be perfectly proven. For each, there is evidence, speculation, theory and faith. No one can measure the timeline because we have nothing to measure it by. No one was around to record the beginning for us, so we have to rely on some speculation.

 

It seems that for every piece of potential evidence, there is discovered that we know so much less. Every question that is answered provides the need for a hundred new questions. Will we ever truly know the whole story? Not while we’re here.

 

The major differences, if I may generalize, are as follows:

Creation: Origin of earth as roughly 6,000 years ago.

Evolution: Origin of earth is several million years ago.

 

Creation: God made it all

Evolution: There is no god. All of life is by chance.

 

Creation: We have a divine purpose on this earth.

Evolution: There is no specific reason we exist.

 

Creation: Man is made unique from the animals.

Evolution: Man is a type of animal.

 

Creation: God the Creator makes the rules and we must formulate law around that for a peaceful society.

Evolution: Man formulates his own laws based on majority vote, authoritative say-so, and/ or survival of the fittest.

 

Creation: Man must decide whether or not to follow God, through His Son, Jesus to see heaven after they die.

Evolution: Man lives to gain the most he can while here, because once you die you cease to exist.

 

We could go on and on and on. The differences are as many as the stars in the sky, whether they are remnants of a cosmic explosion, or they are put there specifically by God as a testimony to His greatness.

 

Now it gets interesting: What do YOU think? Post a comment below.

Who is this Jesus?

September 28, 2008

The deeper we go into the Bible and Study the Scriptures, the more we will find slight interpretation. Many churches and denominations have based an entire belief over just a few verses that, when put in the right order, seem to suggest a “secret” that most people glaze over. Occasionally, there is more Scriptural evidence and example to back up these thoughts. Other times, not. One of the biggest fought over ideas is whether or not Jesus was who the church claims He is. Even there, many are divided on just who Jesus really was, and whether or not He still is.

 

The name given to the three-pronged godhead is the Trinity. And that is where the opinion splits. Some don’t believe that there is a Trinity, while others believe there must be. Yet the degree to which each member of the Trinity is not agreed upon either. [1]

 

In some cases, people believe that there is only Jesus. He is the Father and He is the Holy Spirit. There is absolutely no distinction between the three. They are the same “person”. This is to say that while Jesus was on the earth, there was no Father in heaven, because Jesus is the Father. [1]

 

Some believe that Jesus was just a prophet, a man through whom God spoke. Someone who taught us how to live well and follow the teachings of God’s Law. He wasn’t the Son of God, but just someone on God’s team. [2]

 

Still others believe that Jesus was merely a great orator. He spoke fancy words and convinced people to things His way, but they maintain that He couldn’t have been real since there is no God who could’ve sent Him. [3]

 

The most ignorant of all don’t believe that Jesus is real. They say that some people invented the idea of Jesus just to scare people into being what they call “good”. These people are living with a distorted perception. There really is no doubting that Jesus lived, walked the earth, taught people and was killed for His ways. [4]

 

The real question here is not whether Jesus exists (or existed), but the real question is: Who is Jesus? God in entirety? Son of God? Prophet? Teacher? Heretic? I attempt to answer these questions with the oldest and most trustworthy record of the time that these events occurred, some 2000 years ago. I refer, of course, to the Bible.

 

1. As to the fact that there is a separation between the Father, Son, and Spirit: All three are God, and yet each is unique in His place, position and duties.

  • No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. –Mark 13:32
    • If Jesus admitted to not knowing what only the Father knew, He couldn’t be the Father Himself.
  • Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. –Matthew 28:19
    • Jesus’ command was to make disciples in the name of all three members of the godhead.
  • As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” –Matthew 3:16-17
    • In this depiction, the Son, Jesus, is present alongside the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the Father is heard from heaven. All three are shown separate, so Jesus cannot be the Spirit or the Father. The Spirit cannot be the Son or the Father and the Father cannot be the Son or the Spirit. Here are a few more verses that point to a separation of the three-pronged Godhead if you wish to look them up.
  • Genesis 1:26
  • Genesis 3:22
  • Isaiah 6:3 & 8
  • Isaiah 11:2-3 
  • Isaiah 42:1
  • Isaiah 48:16
  • Isaiah 63:10-11
  • Matthew 3:11
  • Matthew 12:28
  • Luke 4:1 & 14
  • John 3:34-35
  • John 14:26
  • John 15:26
  • John 16:13
  • Acts 10:38
  • 2 Corinthians 13:14
  • 1 Peter 1:2
  • 1 John 5:5-11

 

2. To the point that some say Jesus was not the Son of God, there is quite a bit of Scriptural evidence to the contrary.

  • Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Matthew 4:1-3
    • Even Satan knows that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s why Satan hoped to tempt Jesus to slip up in any small way. Of course, it didn’t work.
  • The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” – Matthew 26:63-64
    • Here, Jesus admits to the high priest that He is indeed the Son of God.
  • As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” –Matthew 3:16-17
    • Again, this reveals to be an important passage. God the Father audibly tells everyone within earshot that Jesus is indeed His Son. I have again included a list of other references to Jesus as the Son of God.
  • Matthew 4:6
  • Matthew 8:29
  • Matthew 14:33
  • Matthew 27:40, 43, 54
  • Mark 1:1
  • Mark 3:11
  • Mark 15:39
  • Luke 1:35
  • Luke 3:38
  • Luke 4:3 , 9, 41
  • Luke 22:70
  • John 1:34, 49
  • John 5:25
  • John 11:27
  • John 19:7
  • John 20:31
  • Acts 9:20
  • Romans 1:4
  • 2 Corinthians 1:19
  • Galatians 2:20
  • Ephesians 4:13
  • Hebrews 4:14
  • Hebrews 6:6
  • Hebrews 7:3
  • Hebrews 10:29
  • 1 John 3:8
  • 1 John 4:15
  • 1 John 5:1, 5, 10, 12-13, 20
  • Revelation 2:18

 

3. This point is intimately more problematic than most others. To believe that Jesus is God’s Son, you must first believe in God. These verses and facts show that what the Bible says is real. God created the earth and sent His Son Jesus to earth for us. I also list quite a bit of science here, so feel free to browse the topics in bold.

·         Formation of Life: Dead chemicals cannot become alive on their own. The cell is a miniature factory with many active processes, not a simple blob of “protoplasm” as believed in Darwin’s day. Lightening striking a mud puddle or some “warm little pond” will never produce life. This is another view of the core issue of information as the simplest living cell requires a vast amount of information to be present. The “Law of Biogenesis” states that life comes only from prior life. Spontaneous generation has long been shown to be impossible (by Louis Pasteur in 1859). Numerous efforts to bring life from non-life (including the famous Miller-Urey experiment) have not succeeded. The probability of life forming from non-life has been likened to the probability of a tornado going through a junkyard and spontaneously assembling a working 747 airplane. The idea that life on earth may have been seeded from outer space just moves the problem elsewhere.

o         Key reference: Why Abiogenesis is Impossible, Jerry Bergman, CRS Quarterly, Volume 36, March 2000

·         Design of Living Things: Design is apparent in the living world. Even Richard Dawkins in his anti-creation book The Blind Watchmaker admits “Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” The amazing defense mechanism of the Bombardier Beetle is a classic example of design in nature, seemingly impossible to explain as the result of accumulating small beneficial changes over time, because if the mechanism doesn’t work perfectly, “boom” – no more beetle! This is also another view of the core issue of information, as the design of living things is the result of processing the information in the DNA (following the blueprint) to produce a working organism.

o         Key reference: The three-part video series Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution describes many more examples like that of the Bombardier Beetle

·         Irreducible Complexity: The idea that “nothing works until everything works.” The classic example is a mousetrap, which is irreducibly complex in that if one of its several pieces is missing or not in the right place, it will not function as a mousetrap and no mice will be caught. The systems, features, and processes of life are irreducibly complex. What good is a circulatory system without a heart? An eye without a brain to interpret the signals? What good is a half-formed wing? Doesn’t matching male and female reproductive machinery need to exist at the same time, fully-functioning if any reproduction is to take place? Remember, natural selection has no foresight, and works to eliminate anything not providing an immediate benefit.

o         Key Reference: Darwin’s Black Box (Behe)

·         Second Law of Thermodynamics: The Second Law of Thermodynamics refers to the universal tendency for things, on their own, to “mix” with their surrounding environment over time, becoming less ordered and eventually reaching a steady-state. A glass of hot water becomes room temperature, buildings decay into rubble, and the stars will eventually burn out leading to the “heat death” of the universe. However, the evolutionary scenario proposes that over time things, on their own, became more ordered and structured. Somehow the energy of a “Big Bang” structured itself into stars, galaxies, planets, and living things, contrary to the Second Law. It is sometimes said that the energy of the Sun was enough to overcome this tendency and allow for the formation of life on earth. However, application of energy alone is not enough to overcome this tendency; the energy must be channeled by a machine. A human must repair a building to keep it from decaying. Likewise, it is the machinery of photosynthesis which harnesses the energy of the Sun, allowing life to exist, and photosynthesis is itself a complex chemical process. The maturing of an acorn into a tree, or a zygote (the first cell resulting from fertilization) into a mature human being does not violate the Second Law as these processes are guided by the information already present in the acorn or zygote.

o         Key reference: The Second Law of Thermodynamics (answersingenesis.org)

·         Existence of the Universe: By definition, something must be eternal (as we have “something” today and something cannot come from “nothing”, so there was never a time when there was “nothing”). Either the universe itself is eternal, or something/someone outside of and greater than the universe is eternal. We know that the universe is not eternal, it had a beginning (as evidenced by its expansion). Therefore, God (the something/someone outside of the universe) must exist and must have created the universe. Einstein showed that space and time are related. If there is no space there is no time. Before the universe was created there was no space and therefore no concept of time. This is hard for us to understand as we are space-time creatures, but it allows for God to be an eternal being, completely consistent with scientific laws. The question “who created God” is therefore an improper/invalid question, as it is a time-based question (concerning the point in time at which God came into existence) but God exists outside of time as the un-caused first cause.

·         Fine-Tuning of Earth for Life: Dozens of parameters are “just right” for life to exist on this planet. For example, if the Earth were just a little closer to the Sun it would be too hot and the ocean’s water would boil away, much further and it would be covered continually in ice. Earth’s circular orbit (to maintain a roughly constant temperature year-round), its rotation speed (to provide days and nights not too long or short), its tilt (to provide seasons), and the presence of the moon (to provide tides to cleanse the oceans) are just some of many other examples.

The presence of large amounts of water, with its amazing special properties, is also required. Water is a rare compound in that it is lighter in a solid state than in a liquid state. This allows ponds to freeze with the ice on the surface allowing the life beneath to survive. Otherwise bodies of water would freeze from the bottom up and become solid ice. Water is also the most universal “solvent” known, allowing for dissolving/mixing with the many different chemicals of life. In fact, our bodies are 75-85% comprised of water.

o         Key reference: The Privileged Planet (Gonzalez/Richards)

·         Fine-Tuning of Physics: The fine-tuning of the physical constants that control the physics of the universe – the settings of the basic forces (strong nuclear force constant, weak nuclear force constant, gravitational force constant, and electromagnetic force constant) are on a knife’s edge. A minor change in these or any of dozens of other universal parameters would make life impossible. The “multiverse” idea that there may be many universes and ours “just happened” to have these proper values is outside of science and could never be proven. Even then we would have to ask “what was the cause of all these universes?”

o       Key reference: Hugh Ross lists about 100 parameters on the Reasons To Believe web site. See also Design and the Anthropic Principle

·         Abrupt Appearance in the Fossil Record: The oldest fossils for any creature are already fully-formed and don’t change much over time (“stasis”). The “Cambrian Explosion” in the “primordial strata” documents the geologically rapid appearance of most major groups of complex animals. There is no evidence of evolution from simpler forms. Birds are said to have evolved from reptiles but no fossil has ever been found having a “half-scale/half-wing”. A reptile breathes using an “in and out” lung (like humans have), but a bird has a “flow-through” lung suitable for moving through the air. Can you even imagine how such a transition of the lung could have taken place? Abrupt appearance and stasis are consistent with the biblical concept of creation “according to its kind”, and a world-wide flood that scoured the earth down to its basement rocks, depositing the “geologic column” and giving the appearance of a “Cambrian Explosion”. Smarter, more mobile creatures would escape the flood waters longer, becoming buried in higher-level strata, leading to a burial order progressing from “simpler” forms to more complex/higher-level forms, which people now wrongly interpret as an evolutionary progression.

o       Key reference: Fossils Q&A (answersingenesis.org)

·         Human Consciousness: A person is a unity of body + mind/soul, the mind/soul being the immaterial part of you that is the real inner you. Chemicals alone cannot explain self-awareness, creativity, reasoning, emotions of love and hate, sensations of pleasure and pain, possessing and remembering experiences, and free will. Reason itself cannot be relied upon if it is based only on blind neurological events.

o       Key reference: The Origin of the Brain and Mind, Brad Harrub and Bert Thompson, CRS Quarterly, Volume 41, June 2004

·         Human Language: Language is one of the main things that separates man from the animals. No animal is capable of achieving anything like human speech, and all attempts to teach chimpanzees to talk have failed. Evolutionists have no explanation for the origin of human language. However, the Bible does. It says that the first man, Adam, was created able to speak. The Bible also explains why we have different human languages, as God had to “confuse” the common language being used in Babel after the flood, in order to force people to spread out around the world as He wanted. This was only a “surface” confusion though, as all languages express the same underlying basic ideas and concepts, enabling other languages to be learned and understood.

o       Key reference: The Mystery of Human Language (Morris, icr.org)

·         Sexual Reproduction: Many creatures reproduce asexually. Why would animals abandon simpler asexual reproduction in favor of more costly and inefficient sexual reproduction? Sexual reproduction is a very complex process that is only useful if fully in place. For sexual reproduction to have evolved complimentary male and female sex organs, sperm and eggs, and all the associated machinery in tandem defies the imagination.

·         The Bible’s Witness: The Bible is true. The history of the Bible is true. The words of the Bible concerning our origins were given to men to write down, by God, who was the only living being present. We were not there! God said He created the universe. God said He created all living things. We know that life is much more than chemicals. God put His life into Adam and that life has been transferred from generation to generation all the way down to us!

o       Key reference: The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict (McDowell)

·         Other Scientific evidence would point out that, at the rate of the magnetic field’s decay, sedimentary layering, population statistics, radio halos, the atmospheric helium content, expansion of space fabric, and the design of both living systems and of the human brain. Some points on these below:

o        Earth’s Magnetic Field Decay: Dr. Thomas Barnes, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at El Paso, has published the definitive work in this field.4 Scientific observations since 1829 have shown that the earth’s magnetic field has been measurably decaying at an exponential rate, demonstrating its half-life to be approximately 1,400 years. In practical application its strength 20,000 years ago would approximate that of a magnetic star. Under those conditions many of the atoms necessary for life processes could not form. These data demonstrate that earth’s entire history is young, within a few thousand of years

o          Global Flood: The Biblical record clearly describes a global Flood during Noah’s day. Additionally, there are hundreds of Flood traditions handed down through cultures all over the world. 5 M.E. Clark and Henry Voss have demonstrated the scientific validity of such a Flood providing the sedimentary layering we see on every continent. 6 Secular scholars report very rapid sedimentation and periods of great carbonate deposition in earth’s sedimentary layers..7 It is now possible to prove the historical reality of the Biblical Flood.8

o        Population Statistics: World population growth rate in recent times is about 2% per year. Practicable application of growth rate throughout human history would be about half that number. Wars, disease, famine, etc. have wiped out approximately one third of the population on average every 82 years. Starting with eight people, and applying these growth rates since the Flood of Noah’s day (about 4500 years ago) would give a total human population at just under six billion people. However, application on an evolutionary time scale runs into major difficulties. Starting with one “couple” just 41,000 years ago would give us a total population of 2 x 1089. 9The universe does not have space to hold so many bodies.

o        Radio Halos: Physicist Robert Gentry has reported isolated radio halos of polonuim-214 in crystalline granite. The half-life of this element is 0.000164 seconds! To record the existence of this element in such short time span, the granite must be in crystalline state instantaneously.10 This runs counter to evolutionary estimates of 300 million years for granite to form. Recently there have been evolutionists online in newsgroups and on blogs that have claimed Polonium 214 doesn’t exist. Main reason being is because they declare the Granite in the earth’s crust took many millions of years to form and finally cool and Polonium 214 takes less then a second to expend all its half-lifes. In order to save face, some evolutionists have decided to lie and say Polonium 214 simply doesn’t exist. HOWEVER, if you go to http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=15735%2d67%2d8, you will see one of many online Scientific websites that list the element Pulonium 214 to be found on Planet earth. On that page they share evidence that Polonium 214 is in fact a chemical profile that can and has been recorded by many scientists. Praise the Lord we have yet another factoid to prove evolution is a lie of Satan.

o        Atmospheric Helium Content: Physicist Melvin Cook, Nobel Prize medalist found that helium-4 enters our atmosphere from solar wind and radioactive decay of uranium. At present rates our atmosphere would accumulate current helium-4 amounts in less than 10,000 years.12

o        Expansion of Space Fabric: Astronomical estimates of the distance to various galaxies gives conflicting data. 13The Biblical Record refers to the expansion of space by the Creator14. Astrophysicist Russell Humphries demonstrates that such space expansion would dilate time in distant space.15 This could explain a recent creation with great distances to the stars

o        Design of Living Systems: A living cell is so awesomely complex that its interdependent components stagger the imagination and defy evolutionary explanations. A minimal cell contains over 60,000 proteins of 100 different configurations.16 The chance of this assemblage occurring by chance is 1 in 10 4,478,296 .17

o        Design of the Human Brain: The human brain is the most complicated structure in the known universe.18 It contains over 100 billion cells, each with over 50,000 neuron connections to other brain cells.19 This structure receives over 100 million separate signals from the total human body every second. If we learned something new every second of our lives, it would take three million years to exhaust the capacity of the human brain. 20 In addition to conscious thought, people can actually reason, anticipate consequences, and devise plans – all without knowing they are doing so.21

§   *References for the above 21 notations (1-3 not used above, but are still great references to the same conclusions):

·   1Woodmorappe, John, “The Essential Non-Existence of the Evolutionary Uniformitarian Geologic Column: A Quantitative Assessment,” Creation Research Society Quarterly, vol. 18, no.1 (Terre Haute, Indiana, June 1981),pp. 46-71

·   2 Nilsson, N. Heribert, as quoted in Arthur C. Custance, The Earth Before Man, Part II, Doorway Papers, no. 20 (Ontario, Canada: Doorway Publications), p. 51

·   3Corner, E.J.H., Contemporary Botanical Thought, ed. A.M. MacLeod and L.S. Cobley (Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1961), p. 97

·   4Barnes, Thomas, ICR Technical Monograph #4, Origin and Destiny of the Earth’s Magnetic Field (2nd edition, 1983)

·   5Blick, Edward, A Scientific Analysis of Genesis (Oklahoma City: Hearthstone, 1991) p. 103

·   6Clark, M.E. and Voss, H.D., “Fluid Mechanic Examination of the Tial Mechanism for Producing Mega-Sedimantary Layering” (Third International Conference on Creation, Pittsburg, July 1994)

·   7Ager, Derek, The Nature of the Stratigraphical Record (New York: John Wiley and Sons) p. 43 and p. 86

·   8West, John Anthony, Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt (New York: Julian Press, 1987) pp. 13-14

·   9 See Morris, Henry, Scientific Creationism (El Cajon, CA: Master Books)

·   10Gentry, Robert, Creation’s Tiny Mystery (Knoxville, Tenn.: Earth Science Assoc.,1988 )

·   11 Baugh, Carl, Why Do Men Believe Evolution AGAINST ALL ODDS? (Oklahoma City: Hearthstone, 1999)

·   12Cook, Melvin, “Where is The Earth’s Radiogenic Helium?” Nature, Vol. 179, p. 213

·   13Cowan, R., “Further Evidence of a Youthful Universe,” Science News, Vol. 148, p. 166

·   14Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 40:22

·   15Humphries, Russell, Starlight and Time (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1994)

·   16Denton, Michael, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (Bethesda, Maryland: Adler & Adler, 1986) p. 263

·   17 Mastropaolo, Joseph, “Evolution Is Biologically Impossible,” Impact # 317 (El Cajon, CA: Institute For Creation Research,1999) p. 4

·   18Restak, Richard, The Brain: The Last Frontier, 1979, p. 390

·   19The Brain, Our Universe Within, PBS Video

·   20Wonders of God’s Creation, Moody Video Series

·   21Weiss, Joseph, “Unconscious Mental Functioning,” Scientific American, March 1990, p. 103

 

4. Some would ask, “How is believing in God different than believing in Jesus?” In this context, many do believe in God the Father and Creator, but not that Jesus was His Son, or that He even existed.  Some of the evidence given to point 3 could be attributed to Jesus. The fact is, Jesus walked the earth. He spoke, He taught, He shook things up. There are a lot of Biblical New Testament examples of Jesus speaking to, and appearing before large groups of people in very public places. However, most non-believers exclude anything the Bible says automatically and without consideration of the many different peoples who penned the pages. Here are some of the extra-biblical references I’ve found:

·         Ask yourself: Could a person who never lived have affected human history so remarkably? The reference work The Historians’ History of the World observed: “The historical result of [Jesus’] activities was more momentous, even from a strictly secular standpoint, than the deeds of any other character of history. A new era, recognized by the chief civilizations of the world, dates from his birth.”
Critics, nevertheless, point out that all that we really know about Jesus is found in the Bible. No other contemporary records concerning him exist. But is this true?

Yes, think about it. Even calendars today are based on the year that Jesus was thought to have been born. “Dates before that year are listed as B.C., or before Christ,” explains The World Book Encyclopedia. “Dates after that year are listed as A.D., or anno Domini (in the year of our Lord).”

Although references to Jesus Christ by early secular historians are meager, such references do exist.

 

·         Cornelius Tacitus, a respected first-century Roman historian, wrote: “The name [Christian] is derived from Christ, whom the procurator Pontius Pilate had executed in the reign of Tiberius.” Tacitus lived from A.D. 55 to A.D. 120. He was a Roman historian and has been described as the greatest historian of Rome, noted for his integrity and moral uprightness. His most famous works are the Annals and the Histories. The Annals relate the historical narrative from Augustus’ death in A.D.14 to Nero’s death in A.D. 68. The Histories begin their narrative after Nero’s death and finish with Domitian’s death in A.D. 96. In his section describing Nero’s decision to blame the fire of Rome on the Christians, Tacitus affirms that the founder of Christianity, a man he calls Chrestus (a common misspelling of Christ, which was Jesus’ surname), was executed by Pilate, the procurator of Judea during the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberias. Tacitus was hostile to Christianity because in the same paragraph he describes Christus’ or Christ’s death, he describes Christianity as a pernicious superstition. It would have therefore been in his interests to declare that Jesus had never existed, but he did not, and perhaps he did not because he could not without betraying the historical record. See —THE COMPLETE WORKS OF TACITUS (NEW YORK, 1942), “THE ANNALS,” BOOK 15, PAR. 44.

 

·         Suetonius and Pliny the Younger, other Roman writers of the time, also referred to Christ. Suetonius was a Roman historian and a court official in Emperor Hadrian’s government. In his Life of Claudius he refers to Claudius expelling Jews from Rome on account of their activities on behalf of a man Suetonius calls Chrestus [another misspelling of Christus or Christ]. Pliny was the Governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor (AD. 112). He was responsible for executing Christians for not worshipping or bowing down to a statue of the emperor Trajan. In a letter to the emperor Trajan, he describes how the people on trial for being Christians would describe how they sang songs to Christ because he was a god.

 

·         Flavius Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian, wrote of the stoning of James*, whom he identified as “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ.” Josephus was a Jewish historian who was born in either 37 or 38 AD and died some time after 100 AD. He wrote the Jewish Antiquites and in one famous passage described Jesus as a wise man, a doer of wonderful works and calls him the Christ. He also affirmed that Jesus was executed by Pilate and actually rose from the dead! (*THE JEWISH ANTIQUITIES, JOSEPHUS, BOOK XX, SEC. 200)

 

·         Lucian of Samosata was a Greek satirist of the latter half of the second century. He therefore lived within two hundred years of Jesus. Lucian was hostile to Christianity and openly mocked it. He particularly objected to the fact that Christians worshipped a man. He does not mention Jesus’ name, but the reference to the man Christians worship is a reference to Jesus.

 

·         Mara Bar-Serepion Some time after 70 A.D., Mara Bar-Sarapion (spelled either Se- or Sa-), who was probably a Stoic philosopher, wrote a letter to his son in which he describes how the Jews executed their King. Claiming to be a king was one of the charges the religious authorities used to scare Pontius Pilate into agreeing to execute Jesus.

·         Common Sense Factor: Why would apostles of Jesus allow themselves to martyred in such horrific ways if they knew Jesus wasn’t real? All except John were killed for their faith, each separate from one another. “EVIDENCE IN MUSEUM?”As it did with the Hebrew Scriptures, archaeology has brought to light many interesting artifacts in support of the inspired record contained in the Christian Greek Scriptures.
For instance– Pontius Pilate Inscription. It was in 1961 that the first archaeological find was made with reference to Pontius Pilate. ( the person who put Jesus to death) This was a stone slab located at Caesarea, which bore in Latin the name of Pontius Pilate
To mention only one, as there are literally hundreds of artifacts relating to everything Jesus said and did. All the people Jesus mentioned; there is proof they existed, all the places he said he visited, there is proof these places did exist, and so on.
To put is simply, if we are to doubt the historicity of Jesus, we must also doubt the historicity of ones like, Alexander the Great and Napoleon, as there is more evidence of Jesus existence than of theirs.

“BIBLE ALL HEARSAY, WHERES THE PROOF?”
How can we be sure the Bible has not been changed?

 

With reference to early non-Christian historical references to Jesus, THE NEW ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA states: “These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus “(1976), MACROPÆDIA, VOL. 10, P. 145.

 

Not “hearsay”, here are some examples of why the Bible is believable as the Word of God—

1. It is filled with prophecies reflecting detailed knowledge of the future—something impossible for humans. Some of them have occurred, some are occurring, and some are yet to occur. Jesus fulfilled many of them Himself. Remember that the contents of the Bible was written during a span stretching over 1600 years.

2. Its contents are scientifically sound on matters that human researchers discovered only at a later date. One such example is the existence of King David. Many didn’t believe that such a man existed until the last couple hundred years, when more evidence was found to back his reign as king.

3. Its internal harmony is significant. The four gospels, for example, were written by different men at different times in different areas. They are not all filled with exactly the same stories and situations, but what is in one may be in another, and nothing in any is disproof of another’s writings. They tell thee same story from four different views.
Other aspects of Biblical harmony is shown by the fact that the books of the Bible were recorded by some 40 men as diverse as king, prophet, herdsman, tax collector, and physician. They did the writing over a period of 1,600+ years; so there was no opportunity for collusion. Yet their writings agree, even in the smallest details. This is further proved by the point that the Bible wasn’t “put together” as a whole until long after all pieces were written. To appreciate the extent to which the various portions of the Bible are harmoniously intertwined, you must read and study it personally.

“In the number of ancient MSS. [manuscripts] attesting a writing, and in the number of years that had elapsed between the original and the attesting MSS., the Bible enjoys a decided advantage over classical writings [those of Homer, Plato, and others]. . . . Altogether classical MSS. are but a handful compared with Biblical. No ancient book is so well attested as the Bible.”—The Bible From the Beginning (New York, 1929), P. Marion Simms, pp. 74, 76.

A report published in 1971 shows that there are possibly 6,000 handwritten copies containing all or part of the Hebrew Scriptures; the oldest dates back to the third century B.C.E. Of the Christian Greek Scriptures, there are some 5,000 in Greek, the oldest dating back to the beginning of the second century C.E. There are also many copies of early translations into other languages.

In the introduction to his seven volumes on The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri, Sir Frederic Kenyon wrote: “The first and most important conclusion derived from the examination of them [the papyri] is the satisfactory one that they confirm the essential soundness of the existing texts. No striking or fundamental variation is shown either in the Old or the New Testament. There are no important omissions or additions of passages, and no variations which affect vital facts or doctrines. The variations of text affect minor matters, such as the order of words or the precise words used . . . But their essential importance is their confirmation, by evidence of an earlier date than was hitherto available, of the integrity of our existing texts.”—(London, 1933), p. 15.

 

One must conclude that, based on all of this evidence, there must have existed the man Jesus. The recorded writings of His life must be true. He did what the Bible says He did, walked where it says He walked, died as it says He died, rose from the dead as it says He did. All of these things happened. Even those who saw this and still didn’t accept Him as the Son of God agree that He was a magnificent speaker, teacher, a moral man without fault, and that He died and rose from death. They wouldn’t accept Him for reasons of selfish nature, be it fear (as the Pharisees), pride, or traditional religious belief. But 2000 some years later, we know what is lasting. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What will you choose?