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If you look at "God" as a term of scale as opposed to an absolute term, I.e the very best warrior in existence would become some kind of warrior "god". The chaos gods represent carnal emotions, being the strongest warp based entities to represent there respective emotions that pretty much makes them gods.

Yes they are divine, just ask any word bearer.
Don't belive him? tough, 'cos he'll just chop you up as a sacrifice.

@Nurglitch: The Jewish tradition very cleverly set up an idea of God that would invalidate all other ideas about gods. Do the Ruinous Powers square with this Jewish and lately Christian idea of God? Nope. But I think they're pretty well divine in the pagan sense. To wit, they are:

- fallible (certainly not omniscient or omnipotent)
- immensely powerful within their own spheres of influence
- dependent in some ways upon mortals/the mortal world

But as regards the last word you use, "perfect," I wonder . . . In the ontological sense, they're certainly perfection as regarding themselves (I'm sure Heidegger must have made up a word for this concept, right?) inasmuch as they are each the concretized (immaterially, lol) Platonic Form of their associated types ("ontics").


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Ironlcally, this analysis (except as regarding being "perfect," at least explicitly) makes the Emperor a god, as well -- a claim which the Ruinous Powers disputed so fiercely opposed that they actually bebothered themselves to dream up "heresies" for mortals . . . even though accomplishing as much meant adopting the supremely inordinate strategy of working together. The protest of the Chaos Gods in this case is either a ringing endorsement of the Emperor's divinity or a rejection of their own.

Ironlcally, this analysis (except as regarding being "perfect," at least explicitly) makes the Emperor a god, as well -- a claim which the Ruinous Powers disputed so fiercely opposed that they actually bebothered themselves to dream up "heresies" for mortals . . . even though accomplishing as much meant adopting the supremely inordinate strategy of working together. The protest of the Chaos Gods in this case is either a ringing endorsement of the Emperor's divinity or a rejection of their own.

Never went to the end of the logic chain with that one, but that does make sense. Nice little paradox they've made for themselves there.

Manchu:

It's interesting that you should mention that the Chaos Gods rejecting the divinity of the Emperor casts aspersions on their own claims to the Godhead. Because the Emperor rejects the divinity of the Chaos Gods. Space-Jesus says that there are no gods. Is Space-Jesus only partly divine, or both all man and all god? How Catholic is Space-Jesus, really?

The Emperor was enthroned before his plans ever came to full fruition -- so far as we know, His claim was there are no gods (including the caricature of Him that Lorgar invented) and, to quote a beautiful banner from C:SM, "there is only the Emperor." By shattering the myriad faiths of the galaxy, perhaps he merely paved the way for His own vision. Well, we know for sure that this is exactly what He was doing. The question is did the concept of godhood enter that vision? And, moreover, what else would you call such a man as the Emperor?

This was what the Chaos Gods claimed, at least regarding the corruption of Horus.

As to His nature: I think it is safe to say that in 40k, whatever else divinity is, it is a quality of the immaterial expressed on the material. The mortality of the body is therefore no strict impediment to the divinity of the mind-spirit. So -- if I am correct regarding the forgoing principles -- then the Emperor must indeed be both fully human and fully divine. But He's still not very Catholic, theologically. After all, this is a case of the finite becoming infinite (so to speak) rather than the other way around.

I should also qualify (but also expand) upon my earlier sentiments. I'm not sure that the Ruinous Powers objected specifically to the Emperor's denial-claim of divinity -- I only know that this is how they ensnared Horus. But it is worth considering that the Three did no cooperate to undermine the Eldar (which one would think they might have done, if only to prevent/forestall the birth of the Fourth of them) nor ever the Orks or any other races, to my knowledge. Why humans? Why this particular human, the Emperor -- if human he is indeed?