Imperial Cult

The Imperial Cult is the cult based on the worship of the Emperor of Mankind as Master, Defender and Father of Mankind, developed 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 Imperium. 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 Xenos, and the realisation that psykers and mutation among humanity is a dire threat which must be controlled. All of these precepts have their origins in what the Emperor himself preached during the Great Crusade.
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 this vast range of practices and beliefs, as it would be impossible to maintain a complete standardization of the faith across the Imperium.
However, the Ecclesiarchy does enforce basic key tenets:
The Emperor once walked among men, but He is, and always has been, a god.
The Emperor is the one true god, regardless of what past faiths any human may have worshipped.
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 one's 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 He 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 judgment of all mankind, casting those lacking in faith into damnation.
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.

Permeated Organizations

• Corpus Mandati
• Imperium of Man