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Just curious if they have any sort of equivalent to the bible in 40k. Something tells me in the back of my mind that they do, but it might come in the form of multiple books?

Anyway, what might you guys know about the subject?

There are countless variants of the Imperial cult. It's probably safe to assume that most of them have a bible of sorts, although I can only recall one from the Salamanders' home world and even that I'm not sure about.

As the Ecclesiarchy approves most variants, I dunno if there's any official singular Ecclesiarchal bible. Likely they just have a bunch of guidelines on what's a valid interpretation of the Imperial cult, what isn't, and what high ranking cardinals should look out for in case of chaos cults masquerading as Imperial cults.

If there is an official bible of the Ecclesiarchy, it would probably be the Levitio Divinicus, which gives lots of great arguments on why the Emperor must be divine, and was what led to the birth of the Ecclesiarchy in the first place. Presumably the AUTHOR of that book was erased from Imperial records. Although I've yet to see a fluff case of a Word Bearer bringing it up. Maybe because Lorgar would stop meditating and get up to just to stomp the guy for reminding him of that old shame.

TiamatRoar wrote:
There are countless variants of the Imperial cult. It's probably safe to assume that most of them have a bible of sorts, although I can only recall one from the Salamanders' home world and even that I'm not sure about.

As the Ecclesiarchy approves most variants, I dunno if there's any official singular Ecclesiarchal bible. Likely they just have a bunch of guidelines on what's a valid interpretation of the Imperial cult, what isn't, and what high ranking cardinals should look out for in case of chaos cults masquerading as Imperial cults.

If there is an official bible of the Ecclesiarchy, it would probably be the Levitio Divinicus, which gives lots of great arguments on why the Emperor must be divine, and was what led to the birth of the Ecclesiarchy in the first place. Presumably the AUTHOR of that book was erased from Imperial records. Although I've yet to see a fluff case of a Word Bearer bringing it up. Maybe because Lorgar would stop meditating and get up to just to stomp the guy for reminding him of that old shame.

Very interesting response on multiple levels. I can't seem to find anything about any Levitio Divinicus via google, or lexicanicum though. Do you happen to have any more info about it, or could point me to what might have more info?

That would be because I mispelled it.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Lectitio_Divinitatus

TiamatRoar wrote:If there is an official bible of the Ecclesiarchy, it would probably be the Levitio Divinicus, which gives lots of great arguments on why the Emperor must be divine, and was what led to the birth of the Ecclesiarchy in the first place.

This novel-invented Lectitio has little to do with the Ecclesiarchy in Codex fluff.

Worship of the Emperor sprung up all across Imperial-controlled space at around the time of the Emperor's quasi-death, his sacrifice becoming the foundation for countless diverse cults, all preaching their own version of religious adoration. Heralded by the efforts of the Temple of the Saviour Emperor, which had the support of much of the military (and Fatidicus being an influential officer of the Imperial Army), these cults became unified - sometimes by diplomacy, sometimes by force - and ended up forming the Imperial Cult, which would later become state religion as the Adeptus Minitorum, aka the Ecclesiarchy.
There is no single source of detail upon which all of the Imperial faith is built upon, as everything is just an amalgamation, a sort of "consensus" between countless different variations; only the most extreme of which will be denounced, excommunicated, and destroyed. Perhaps this Lectitio Divinitatus, if one were to incorporate it into their personal interpretation of the 41st millennium, is one of the many countless influences, though I find it somewhat more likely that it was destroyed in the purges that followed the Heresy.

The closest thing to a "bible" is the Imperial Creed, which is really just a set of universal guidelines around which all variants of the Imperial faith are sanctioned to build their religion. From the 2E C:SoB:

"The beliefs and teachings of the Ecclesiarchy are generally referred to as the Cult Imperialis, Imperial Cult, or Imperial Creed. The Imperial Creed embodies the ideals of the Ecclesiarchy's founder, Fatidicus. Of course, the main theme of the Imperial Creed is the veneration of the Emperor, but the Imperial Creed also has other implications, such as lauding the expansion of the Imperium as the Emperor's domain. It is the duty of every Imperial citizen to protect the Imperium from outside forces, and to fight against the wiles of Chaos and alien subversion. The Imperium must also be kept pure from within: heresies, unsanctioned cults and mutation must all be reported and promptly dealt with. The Imperial Creed also dictates a strong sense of hierarchy and structure within humanity. Everybody has a place and function to fulfill in the great scheme, and they must be content to perform that function to the best of their ability. A respect for authority, with the ultimate authority being the Emperor himself, is the basis for this hierarchy.

The Imperial Creed, like any religion, is open to much interpretation, from the Ecclesiarch down to the parish preachers. Differing schools of thought exist within the organisation of the Ministorum concerning certain strictures, passages from the Litanies of Faith, and so on. Although these schools differ in opinion from each other, and often the Ecclesiarch, it is rare now for them to be declared heretic unless they are of exceptional deviancy. Generally, these different viewpoints all lead in a similar direction and it is a matter of detail that separates the various sects. For example, the Calendites in the western regions of Segmentum Solar believe the Emperor has always been a living god, while the Phanacian school of thought (further west into the Segmentum Pacificus) believes the Emperor was only fully deified when he struck down Horus. Both of these sects believe in the Emperor's divinity and argue over the detail concerning when it was achieved. Matters of protocol, the layout of shrines and architectural styles are all matters of contention and often the Holy Synod will rage for weeks with a debate concerning a matter the ordinary citizen would find trivial or, more likely, incomprehensible."

Ultimately, it is rather likely that every single world under influence of the Ecclesiarchy will have its very own bibles, containing both the general dogmae of the Imperial Creed as well as tales of numerous local miracles and saints which will be completely unknown elsewhere in the Imperium. After all, the Emperor is revered in very different ways on a lot of worlds, sometimes as the Sun God, other times as the Great Deer, etc. Religious texts will differ accordingly.

Uber, thanks to you both - that was awesome o.o (btw is Exalting just like 'likes'? Because I just exalted yours Lynata, lol)

Why, thank you, sir.

And yes, that's how I understood Exalting to work - I don't do it very often, but I use it when I regard a post of a fellow dakkanaut as particularly enlightening / well written and an excellent contribution to an interesting topic.

At the moment, it doesn't actually "do" anything, though. At least from what I've heard. The site admin, Iego, is supposedly still evaluating how this feature is being used, and extrapolating what could be done with the results.

The more times a post gets exalted, the higher it will get on the exalted post thread. I don't use it, I'd rather use a proper navigation