Main Menu

News:

If you are having problems registering, please e-mail theconclaveforum at gmail.com

The Faith of the Imperium

Started by Dwi, December 02, 2010, 07:01:23 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Dwi

Now I am a VERY faithfull guy (I'm one of the guys who hands out things called Watchtowers if anybody wants to know) and as scuch I like to have a guy in my warbands that has rock solid faith. They also look cool with all those robes :P

However after looking at the Ecclesiarchy I found that I know very little about it. I know it's History but I know next to nothing about thier faith. Only that they worship the Emperor that they run the Scholas and Missions and faithfull worlds.
I also know ther have sub cults like the Red Redemption but thats it.

If anybody has any info on this like sub cults, philosophys and the ins and outs of the Imperial faith etc plese post it here
May The Emperor protect us from the dakness of the void. That or we can run around in little cricles and wave our arms and shout

DapperAnarchist

Since the Thorian Reformation, at least, the Ecclesiarchy has treated the details of Imperial Worship the way an Ecumenical Council would - that is, not at all, because giving an answer will annoy more than 50% of the attendees. There doesn't seem to be a canon of metaphysical beliefs, other than the basic ones of "The Emperor is a God, the Galaxy is His possession, you must worship him". Is there an afterlife? Opinions differ. Do you require faith and good works or faith alone? Opinions differ. Is there a book that contains the ultimate truth of the Emperor's divinity? There's probably a thousand of them, several of which contradict the others. Managing the Ecclesiarchy is a bit like walking a tightrope. Over a shark tank. While people catapult angry rabid baboons at you.
Questions are a burden to others, answers a burden to oneself.

The Keltani Subsector  My P&M Thread - Most recent, INQ28!

Myriad

I've always imagined that there is a 'core' set of religious beliefs running through the administrative layer of the ecclesiarchy a little like low gothic in the administratum, but I don't know that it's ever been much explored.  The sisters of battle might be close I suppose, although they probably have some of their own sets of beliefs.

As DapperAnarchist says, the ecclesiarchy is at it's heart inclusive, as long as you accord to a few tenets, which seem to basically sum up to worship the emperor and be a good citizen.  I've always imagined the outlawing of particular cults to have more to do with local politics and which powerful ecclesiarch may not like them than doctrinal details.  One of my characters is a bona fide saint of the emperor but happens to belongs to an outlawed sect.

If you don't care for a redemptionist there's a couple of good options for a really faithful character.  You can have someone drawn from the ecclesiarchy heirarchy itself, a drill abott or preacher or even a sororitas.  Or you can invent your own sect - the inclusive nature of the imperial faith leaves plenty of room for elaborating on a character's personal beliefs, which may be just between them and the emperor.
I had better point out, that some of the clubs I represent are of a military bent.

You know what you are?  A plywood shark!

Morcus

I would imagine the core belief system would be the core human values that pretty much every society and religion follow, be good and don't kill your own. You've got a pretty free rein as even established groups have wildily differing core belief, especially regarding the emporer.

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: Dwi on December 02, 2010, 07:01:23 PMIf anybody has any info on this like sub cults, philosophys and the ins and outs of the Imperial faith etc plese post it here
You should probably start by at least reading these two articles:
Imperial Cults - brief background on several known - although not necessarily tolerated - Imperial cults.
Sisters of the Emperor - obviously, a sector of the Ecclesiarchy.
(Still, if you don't already have it, my prime recommendation is to just download the bulk pack of all the various different Inquisitor articles - it includes both of the above.)

The Thorian sourcebook is probably also not a bad port of call, as it covers the most overtly religious of the main Inquisitorial viewpoints.

But as has been said... there are a myriad different interpretations of the Imperial faith.

In the real world,  Abrahamic religion - all centred around the god called variously "The Lord", Jehovah, Allah, Yahweh, Elohim, Ar-Rahman, etc - splits down into Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Then you can break that down further, with Christianity breaking down into Catholics (and all their subsects), Protestants (and all their subsects), Eastern Christianity (and... you get the picture) and Nontrinitarianists.

This is just what one planet can do with religion based around one god. When you add in many thousands of years, a million worlds, a nearly complete loss/censorship of old records, then it's fair to say there are more ways to worship the Emperor than can be counted.

In short, feel free to make it up - there's probably some world, cult, or, in really extreme cases, even just an individual who believes exactly that. My only suggestion is don't stick too close to any single real world belief system if you're using a framework - it can feel a bit dull, and often out of place.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

precinctomega

The Powers-that-be in GW have deliberately avoided being too specific in describing the specific metaphysical beliefs of the Imperial Creed for several reasons, not least being the degree of potential controversy that would surround spelling out the specifics of what is, at the end of the day, a satirical pastiche of 21st Century organized religion of all forms.

Another, more canonical reason for vagueness is that, in ten millennia, a belief system can change a lot! So it makes no sense to pin down the beliefs of the Ecclesiarchy, when they may not be true for more than a couple of centuries.

Having said that, the core beliefs are as follows:

1. Revere the Emperor as the one, true god.

2. Revile the alien, the traitor and the daemon.

3. Know your place.

R.

DapperAnarchist

Even the "one" of one true god seems to be a little tricky - Feth is a goddess of some sort, isn't she? A malicious one that destroys things. There's also (out of universe, but still informative) the line "by the will of the Gods" in the opening description of the Emperor. And some accept that there are other gods - but they are foul and dangerous gods, who wish only to drag down mankind. To be fair, they're right.
Questions are a burden to others, answers a burden to oneself.

The Keltani Subsector  My P&M Thread - Most recent, INQ28!