Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I believe that the "prophets" of many modern religions(Christianity, Islam, Hinduism) in the Warhammer 40k world could have been psykers themselves and saw the warp (which wasn't as evil and chaotic as it is in the 41 Mellenium) of which they interpreted as a realm of gods and resulted in many religious teachings such as that of Hinduism and Christianity

For example, visions of Khorne could have inspired the idea of Satan while visions of the Eldar Gods could have inspired the gods in Polytheistic religions

At same time I think the Emperor could have been Jesus in the thousands of years he has lived(if the Emperor had a beard, he would look kind of like Jesus)

Also, it has been said by Lexicanium that the Emperor did occasionally influence humanity and watched over it

Do you think so?

It wouldn't surprise me if Jesus and other similar religious figures were actually just different incarnations of the Emperor.

Coolyo294 wrote:It wouldn't surprise me if Jesus and other similar religious figures were actually just different incarnations of the Emperor.

If he really was Jesus, he certainly did retain his compassion for Horus during the Battle for Terra

Real-life figures and timelines are always a tricky thing in some fictional settings. Officially, much(though not all) of the real world's timeline is conveniently ignored by the writers and speculation can vary wildly.

That said, the Emperor is ridiculously ancient and is said to have taken on various guises to influence human history, so it's 'possible'(whatever that means) that the Emperor was Jesus Christ, or any number of other figures.

Coolyo294 wrote:It wouldn't surprise me if Jesus and other similar religious figures were actually just different incarnations of the Emperor.

so horus was pilate?

Horus...was not born. If you are speaking figuratively he would be judas. Not sure where you are going with this.

riplikash wrote:Horus...was not born. If you are speaking figuratively he would be judas. Not sure where you are going with this.

judas betrayed J.C, it was pilate who signed the death warrant.
and i was joking

To be honest if you think how the Emperor despises religion and how he activly tried to destroy it I would not think that he could be a religious figure. I might vision him more like Napoleon or some other military figure than a religious one.

the emperor is kind of a xenophobe... hitler? *que gakstorm*

orkoidSTD wrote:

riplikash wrote:Horus...was not born. If you are speaking figuratively he would be judas. Not sure where you are going with this.

judas betrayed J.C, it was pilate who signed the death warrant.
and i was joking

And in literary terms, Horus is Lucifer anyway.

To answer the OP, Warhammer 40,000 is an exceedingly scathing satire of religion; in the absence of anything specific to the contrary, it's safe to assume that the game's background presumes history's religious leaders to be nothing more than a lot of sad, deluded madmen.

English Assassin wrote:

orkoidSTD wrote:

riplikash wrote:Horus...was not born. If you are speaking figuratively he would be judas. Not sure where you are going with this.

judas betrayed J.C, it was pilate who signed the death warrant.
and i was joking

And in literary terms, Horus is Lucifer anyway.

To answer the OP, Warhammer 40,000 is an exceedingly scathing satire of religion; in the absence of anything specific to the contrary, it's safe to assume that the game's background presumes history's religious leaders as a lot of deluded madmen.

ooh good point. does that mean that god used to be really active before the war in heaven?
dakkadakka, rewriting religous history as we go

orkoidSTD wrote:ooh good point. does that mean that god used to be really active before the war in heaven?
dakkadakka, rewriting religous history as we go

English Assassin wrote:And in literary terms, Horus is Lucifer anyway.

Emphasis for the hard of reading.

English Assassin wrote:

orkoidSTD wrote:ooh good point. does that mean that god used to be really active before the war in heaven?
dakkadakka, rewriting religous history as we go

English Assassin wrote:And in literary terms, Horus is Lucifer anyway.

Emphasis for the hard of reading.

... touche
but still, an interesting thought.

If the Emporer was Jesus why cant he just die and reincarnate himself like he did before?

Jollydevil wrote:If the Emporer was Jesus why cant he just die and reincarnate himself like he did before?

Imagine if the Apostles took Jesus off the cross, carried him home, and then attached him to a life support system powered by the souls of psychic humans. I admit it's not a very stron metaphor, but that's why. Also, it was never stated that he was Jesus.

moom241 wrote:

Jollydevil wrote:If the Emporer was Jesus why cant he just die and reincarnate himself like he did before?

Also, it was never stated that he was Jesus.

Hypothetical question.
If he was Jesus though, im sure theres some way he could manage to kill himself even though he stuck on the throne, through his physcic might alone.
Devils Advocate here.

Jollydevil wrote:If the Emporer was Jesus why cant he just die and reincarnate himself like he did before?

Because he has been incapacitated within the golden throne and is being kept stasis by others (possibly without his knowledge)? As this is a fictional world we can safely assume that Jesus did rise from the dead the first time

I think some of the very old 40K fluff did strongly hint that the Emperor had a major role to play in contemporary religions but nothing specific.

Other religions are simply extremely rare or have been subsumed into the Imperial creed. The entire Imperium is essentially one big fundamentalist state, you won't get very far spreading heresy (a non standard version of the imperial cult) or apostasy (an other religion) before the ecclesiarcy/arbites/local fanatics catch you and make you very (very) sorry.

Well, we can assume that Christianity was mixed into Emporerism (for the sake of simple terms) seeing as many symbols of christianity can be seen in 40K, such as the cross.

Jollydevil wrote:Well, we can assume that Christianity was mixed into Emporerism (for the sake of simple terms) seeing as many symbols of christianity can be seen in 40K, such as the cross.

allthough its more probably they got that off the romans, seeing as the original emperor liked to look to the great past of terra. also i believe the crucifix of the inquisition are - shaped (and its imperial creed not emperorism )

I'd say a few things but...

Never talk about religion and politics with strangers.

....

I keep trying to contribute to the thread but... I can't seem to say anything that isnt extremely offensive to a religious person.

Can't say anything nice....

If that were true, the Emperor would zap them all with lightning...

DeffDred wrote:I'd say a few things but...

Never talk about religion and politics with strangers.

....

I keep trying to contribute to the thread but... I can't seem to say anything that isnt extremely offensive to a religious person.

Can't say anything nice....

its the internet. whatever your beliefs are no-one can hurt you for them. speak your mind brother

It's worth pointing out that the Mechanicum established that the Emperor, millennia ago, was a general in the army of the Emperor Diocletian, the ruler responsible for the last and bloodiest systematic persecution of Christians during the Roman Empire.

I think it's probably safest to assume that he isn't space-Jesus.

The Emperor wasn't Jeebus.

He was Brian.

Jeebus was just a "very naughty boy".

English Assassin wrote:It's worth pointing out that the Mechanicum established that the Emperor, millennia ago, was a general in the army of the Emperor Diocletian, the ruler responsible for the last and bloodiest systematic persecution of Christians during the Roman Empire.

I think it's probably safest to assume that he isn't space-Jesus.

They're not completely opposite, though.

It's stated that the Emperor has been guiding human history since 6000BC. And we all know how ridiculously cruel he can be if he thinks it's in the best interests of humanity. You know, entire cultures and worlds of billions destroyed, ordering the death of his own sons, etc.

It's quite possible that he was Jesus and then a soldier in the army of Diocletian, based on whatever he thought best for Humanity at the time. Oh, and Hitler too...

Wheres it say hes been guiding humanity since 6K BC?
If so, wouldnt it be garuanteed that he is some sort of godsent beings, considering how long he has lived?

Around the beginning of the christian calendar, a bunch of shamans got together with a ritual and sacrificed themselves so that their spirits would combine to form a super-being.

This being became the emperor who united the warring earth tribes (it just took him 30,000 years to get around to it - as those pesky warring tribes just wouldn't stop fighting long enough.)

Other than that, the emperor is both Jeebus and St George, Arthur and Merlin, Gog and Magog and every other heroic archetype since the year 1.

Maybe the Emperor was Jesus but didn't want people deifying him. Wouldn't be the last time.

It's quite possible that he was Jesus and then a soldier in the army of Diocletian, based on whatever he thought best for Humanity at the time. Oh, and Hitler too...

thought that might have gone unnoticed

It's implied that any sort of prophet, mystic, holy man, shaman, wizard or other major player in the history of Earth was an aspect of the Emperor to be later reborn into figure who would become the God-Emperor of Mankind.

Of course, any surviving representative of a real-world faith in 40K would be branded a heretic and burned.