There are millions of opinions on who and what The Illuminati is. A search on Google brings back over 12 million responses, and Yahoo brings twice as much. Amongst all of this material lurks some scholarly works, but the greater part is fact mixed with fancy, imaginations on steroids, and a lot of made-up stuff.

One of the so-called experts on the subject is New Age guru David Icke. This man advances the proposition that the Illuminati are some kind of strange aliens possessed of shape shifting powers, from the star system Draco. The world of science fiction would certainly welcome Mr. Icke. On the other end of the spectrum is the Rhodes Scholar James H Billington, a noted historian, and the Librarian of Congress since 1987. Billington wrote Fire in the Minds of Men: The Origins of the Revolutionary Faith. He noted that the foundation stems from Bavarian Illuminism.

Dan Brown in his book Da Vinci Code and later in Angels & Demons, made a rather comedic display of some of the modern held ideas about the Illuminati.  Some hold that the modern ideas got their real impetus with a man by the name of Mike Warnke. Warnke wrote The Satan Seller in which he claimed to have been a part of a secret, inner circle of Satanists. He wrote that these were very wealthy and powerful men and that this group was called Illuminati. There is doubt that this is so. Tim LaHaye, the author of the book series Left Behind noted that in a conversation with Warnke, when LaHaye brought the term Illuminati up to Warnke, the man seemed to have never heard the word before (though later, he would relate that he was the one that brought the subject up to LaHaye).

To say that those who espouse the notion of a cabal of evil-doers calling themselves Illuminati are conspiring to take over the world can sometimes be a bit on the kooky side would be an understatement. In America, for example, there are multiple groups who hold to the notion that the Illuminati joined themselves to a radical part of the Masonic group in the 19th century in order to forment revolution. They further claim that Jews have since taken control of the group and virtually all the disasters (including the Twin Tower terrorism) has been orchestrated by the Illuminati as part of some deep, sinister plan to take over America. Currently, their thoughts are that Obama is the man chosen to spearhead that takeover.

So is this group, The Illuminati, for real? It is to many Christians, and even to many outside that group. For the Christians, this is no doubt due to the writings and preachings and teachings of many of the Christian leaders in America, such as Pat Robertson and others. The John Birch Society played a major role in developing the validity of such a group. Indeed, in the 1970s and 1980s, the notion of a powerful cabal of men secretly plotting to control the world was a belief strongly held by the Christian evangelical community. The ideas were circulated through pamphlets, tracks, sermons, and so-called "tape ministries."

One such distributor of cassette tapes came from a man by the name of John Todd. He was a young man in his late 20s who claimed to been raised by witches who were conspiring to take over the world, and that the Illuminati had crafted a very secret plan to place one of their own into the presidency. That man was to be Jimmy Carter. Todd had a lively business (selling survival foods) and faithful followers who listened to his every word. In the Christian community, the idea of an evil cabal took root mainly because it fit so well into the mindset of the evangelical community, to wit, that since Satan was out to rule the world, it was only natural that these evil men would get together to do that very thing, i.e., to do his will.

Todd's imagination ran wild. He claimed to have read secret Illuminati documents ordering the removal of Pres. Nixon, and then  in the late 70s he began making claims that Ruth Carter Stapleton, President Carter's sister, was the "most powerful witch in the world." And then he stepped over the line. He began alleging that many prominent evangelical leaders were working hand in glove with the Illuminati. This of course led to an exposé entitled The Todd Phenomenon and a distancing of evangelical Christianity from Mr. Todd. He grew more radical, accusing Jerry Falwell Bob Jones, Sr., Billy Graham, Jim Baker, and others in the Christian community as being card-carrying members of the Illuminati.

Talk about the Illuminati amongst the more prominent evangelical Christianity has generally died down and now only simmers, mostly among some of the more radical and agressive groups. The Evangelical leaders, with some notable exceptions, are not being so quick to espouse the idea as they once were, and they are more careful with their words. They are also a bit less likely to embrace the Todd's of Christianity and their unproven assertions of affiliations with Satanic cults,  and the "miraculous" readings of secret Illuminati documents.

While there is little doubt that there was indeed an Order of the Illuminati which was formed in May of 1776 in Bavaria, Germany, there is doubt that this same society has existed to the current day. It is highly unlikely. However, it would be foolish to say that there is not a group that calls itself Illuminati, and that this group has some ideas about controlling the world. That might be a fact. But even if that's true, it does not make it a fact that these secretive, even powerful men, actually control the world, or that they have the ability to do so. Not yet.

The truly interesting thing is this: the Christian Bible seems to project a future in which the world is controlled by what would have to be a small group, because at the top of that group is one man, sometimes called the Antichrist. It is because of these teachings in the Bible that it is so easy for evangelical Christians to believe that a secret cabal, an evil group of men, exists for the sole purpose of ruling the world in a one world government.

If one believes the Bible, then one has to believe that there are powerful people who will be utilized, and indeed are being recruited and used, to control the world, or at least at this point, to control certain aspects of the world. It only makes sense that a powerful being, such as Satan, would do that.

But, that does not mean the Illuminati is that group.