Religion in the Imperium

My will be done
- Codex Imperialis

The formal name for the Imperium is rightly the Holy Terran Empire and like the Holy Roman Empire upon which it is consciously based it is very interested in the religious welfare of its subjects. However, over as vast an area as that controlled by the Imperium and with so many worlds to care for - religious uniformity is impossible.

Many worship the Emperor as a god, but the state-worship encouraged by the Ecclesiarchy is not universally practiced. For many, the apotheosis of the Emperor is not literal divinity but a deification of the state itself, a worship of the soul of humanity. There are many approaches to the Imperial Cult within the Ecclesiarchy from the rather syncretistic approach of the Amalathians to the triumphalism of  the Redemptionists to the near Chaos-worship of the Xanthites.

Although the Ecclesiarchy is the largest religious body in the Imperium it is far from the only one. The most wide-spread non-Ecclesiarchal religion in the Empire is the Cult of the Omnissah of the Adeptus Mechanicus. There is also the several religions of the Space Marine chapters which generally do not follow the Ecclesiarchy, tending to see the Emperor as the ultimate expression of humanity rather than a divinity. The Averhamism of the Dark Angels is representative of the Space Marine cults, the Emperor's 'First and Finest' view the Emperor as a great man and the gene father of all Space Marines. They honor Lynn El'Jonson and the Emperor as saints but they worship a single, transcendent G-d. The Dark Angels successors also practice this religion as do the Imperial subjects under their protection. In the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Commissariat is more interested in the political reliability of the Imperial Guard, Imperial Navy and Collegio Titanicus than the religious orthodoxy of the troops in their care. While the Commissariat tends towards the Amalathian viewpoint, the other religions outside the Imperial Cult that are considered licit in the Imperium are known as the Tolerati.

Puritans

The Puritans are the 'Orthodoxy' of the Imperial Cult. They represent the mainline of Imperial religious opinion. They are opposed by the Radicals - who favor accommodating or transcending Chaos and the Imperialists who are more pragmatic in their approach seeing stability rather than uniformity of religious opinion as the key to Imperial security. The Puritans are what most people think of when you speak of the Imperial Cult.

The largest Puritan sects are Thorianity, Ardentism, the Casophilians, the Revivfactors and the Redemptionists and the Cult of the Emperor Divine.

Imperialists

Unlike the Puritans who focus on the Emperor as a god and the Radicals who see him as another Chaos power (though less inimical towards Humanity), the Imperialists focus on the stability and health of the Imperium as an institution of which the Immortal Emperor is merely a part.

The major Imperialists sects are the Monodominants, the Amalathians and the Anomolian Beholders.

The Radicals

Unlike the more conservative Puritans or Imperialists, the Radicals see Chaos as a force similar to fire. Destructive if uncontained but a powerful tool if properly harnessed. Many Imperial bodies view the Radicals as borderline - if not outright - heretics. However, the Radicals also have allies of their own in the Inquisition and the Ministorium.

The major radical sects are the Xanthites, the Horusians, the Recongregators and the Istvaanians

The Tolerati

The Tolerati are religions outside the Imperial cult that are tolerated in the Imperium. The most well known is the Cult Mechanicus, others include the several Space Marine faiths such as Russism, Averhamism and Vedicism practiced by the Space Wolves, Dark Angels and Fighting Tigers respectively. The Imperial Commissariat, which tends towards an Amalathian view of the Imperial Cult, is very adept at reconciling local religion with the needs of the Imperium thus inducting new religions into the Tolerati.

Chaos Cults

Underground cults worshipping the Ruinous Powers are illegal on every world in the Imperium but that doesn't deter the wicked or the foolish from offering praise to the Banes of Mankind. Conventional Chaos Cults or the enigmatic Cult of Is'Malalism are equally anathema to the Ecclesiarchy and to every sane Imperial subject. If you would know more about the damned, read on but know there is a price for such blasphemous knowledge.

Related Pages
[Ablenka]
[Amalathians]
[Anomolian Beholders]
[Ardentitism]
[Averhamism]
[Casophilians]
[Cult Mechanicus]
[Horusians]
[Istvaanians]
[Thorianity]
[Monodominants]
[Recongregators]
[Redemptionists]
[Revivifactors]
[Vedicism]
[Xanthites]
[Chaos Cults]
[Imperial Saints]
[Cult of the Imperator]

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