Imperial Cult
The Imperial Cult is the cult based on the worship of the Emperor as Master, Defender and Father of Mankind, developing following his internment in the Golden Throne. In the 41st millennium the Imperial Cult has almost unrivalled power and influence within the Imperium. Heresy against it is punished severely. The religion is administered by the Ecclesiarchy.
The Imperial Cult is the Imperium's state religion, and in many ways the religion is the state itself; it binds humanity together in the service of the Emperor and the Imperium4.
The basic precepts of the Imperial Cult, called the Imperial Creed, include the belief that all of humanity must be brought into the Imperium, the abhorrence of aliens, the realisation that psykers and mutation among humanity is a dire threat which must be controlled. All of these precepts have their origins with what the Emperor himself preached during the Great Crusade.2
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Tenets
The Imperial Creed is highly flexible and is tailored by Missionaries to fit the native culture, religion, and practices of whatever world it exists upon. As such, practices adhered to on one world may be held as abhorrent on another. The Ministorum tolerates these vast range of practices and beliefs as it would be impossible to maintain the faith by complete standardization. However, the Ecclesiarchy does enforce basic key tenets:5
- That the Emperor once walked among men and that he is and always has been a god.
- That the Emperor is the one true god, regardless of what past faiths any human may have worshiped.
- To purge the heretic, beware the psyker and mutant, and abhor the alien.
- Every human being has a place within the Emperor's divine order.
- To unquestionably obey the authority of the Imperial government and superiors.
Another recurring theme is the notion of the End Times, which gained momentum towards the end of the 41st Millennium. Often tied to the notion of the End Times is a belief that the Emperor will rise from the Golden Throne and complete the work be began ten thousand years ago, delivering the faithful from the evils of the galaxy. While most view these as a time of deliverance, it is also believed that the Emperor will sit in judgement of all mankind, casting those lacking in faith into damnation.5
Aside from these central tenets, there exists a massive body of both sanctioned and unsanctioned dogma which varies from sector to sector and is the subject of constant debate. The subject of the afterlife is a regularly debated topic, with many teachings mentioning the form of an afterlife in which the faithful take their place beside the Emperor for eternity. However other elements of the Holy Synod maintain a different version of the afterlife, and the belief in an afterlife varies greatly depending on the culture of a planet.5
History
While the ordinary citizen believes that the Emperor has always been venerated as an immortal and omnipotent god, this was not always the case. At the beginning of the Emperor's Great Crusade the Imperium functioned very differently. Firstly there was no Ecclesiarchy and the veneration of the Emperor, in the form of a cult known as the Lectitio Divinitatus, was frowned upon. The official Imperial doctrine was that the Emperor was an extremely powerful being, rightful ruler of all mankind, and the perfect image of humanity, but no matter how supreme, still a human being. During the Great Crusade however, many ordinary Imperial citizens found that the light of reason and truth brought by the Emperor was not enough, and they took to worshipping him as a deity1.
The Emperor became an object of general veneration following the Horus Heresy and his internment within the Golden Throne on Terra. Over the following decades many individual Imperial cults sprang up throughout the Imperium, with their central theme being the redemption of humanity through the Emperor's self-sacrifice. After a few hundred years a single cult known as the Ecclesiarchy was formed from the unification of a number of smaller cults, which gradually absorbed the main body of believers. In M32 this cult became the official religion of the Imperium, gaining the title of Adeptus Ministorum. Remaining cults were persecuted and mostly destroyed.2
Related articles
Sources
- 1: Horus Heresy Series
- 2: Codex Imperialis, p. 38
- 2a: p. 32
- 3: Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, p. 268
- 4: Realm of Chaos, Slaves to Darkness, p. 214
- 5: Dark Heresy - Blood of Martyrs pg.18-19
