Hi!

Is there an official (GW sanctioned) Imperial Creed document, or fragments, somewhere?

Just wondering,

L

Short answer: no.

Long answer: the various "thoughts of the day" scattered throughout the assorted rules and codexes, plus the prayers in the Imperial Infantrymans Uplifting Primer, are probably as close as you'll get.

Edit: Also, the 2nd ed Sisters of Battle Codex has extensive background on the history of the Eccelesiarchy, but very little on specific dogma.

Basically every religion on every planet in the Imperium and all that they conquer has their religion modified to become an official version of the Imperial Cult.

So go to any bookstores religion section and pick one. Change any mention of God, gods or a higher power of any kind into God Emperor of Mankind and you are all set with an official version of the imperial creed. Also, strip out any tolerance for xenos, mutants, or anything different and replace that with hatred and intolerance.

Post erased by moderators.

Please do not make any disparaging remarks toward anyone's faiths or beliefs on this forum.

some unofficial stuff here

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Adeptus_Ministorum

FatPob said:

Unless I'm mistaken, I think that's official -that is to say a report on information gathered from official sources since the Lexicanum only takes information from official sources. That's why it's kind of sparse and doesn't really have any specifics on what the heck the dogma the creed espouses is ;-)

Graver said:

It does have a very nice selection of "quotations" from various significant figures and texts, all of which give a good feeling for the creed.

ItsUncertainWho said:

Well that sounds a bit easy. For instance, xenos is a non-issue in RL religions. Mutants too I suppose.

As for the dogma that every (hu)man is created equal, that violence is abhorrent, do unto others as you would want them to do do you etc... they simply don't fit with the Empire of Man and would probably be considered heretical. "May the peace of the Emperor be upon you" would be ok though as that implies the peace that comes from exterminating the enemy.

Anything else that should automatically be considered heretical? I mean beyond a doubt... after all the benevolent emperor seems ok judging by the Joyous Choir on Scintilla.

As for other commandments there would be the Manifest Destiny of Man to rule the galaxy, that one should populate it by non-mutated human (DNA is sacred), that one should give the Emperor what's his (tithe).

There seem to be very little or no dogma regarding on how one should live his life, how one should treat his fellow humans etc.

Friend of the Dork said:

Live/Give your life for the Emperor and treat others as needed for the betterment of the Imperium of man.

Friend of the Dork said:

The Imperium as a whole really doesn't care about how the individual lives his life, though - afterall, there are untold trillions of people in the Imperium (I've seen estimates that suggest the population of the Imperium is as high as 3.3E+17, which averages 330 billion people per planet assuming a million worlds; the average shrinks if you count it as a million inhabited star systems instead of discrete worlds), and very few of them matter on anything more than a local scale. In many cases, humanity is viewed as the fuel of the Imperium, a natural resource that is ever-renewing (an uncounted number of people are born every second) which can be expended in vast quantities to ensure the survival of the Imperium itself.

The Creed frequently seems to espouse the virtues of loyalty and sacrifice ("The God-Emperor sacrificed his mortal form so that the Imperium might be saved from the Arch-Enemy; you must be willing to sacrifice yourself similarly in service to Him-on-Terra"), considering martyrdom, particularly martyrdom in battle, as a holy and desirable notion.

The best source of Imperial dogma (which may or may not be religious in origin) is in the 'Thought for the Day' passages that litter reports and other in-setting documents. Lexicanum has an ever-growing collection of them, here , here and here .

ItsUncertainWho said:

Which of course is vague or nonspecific. Might as well say "lead a good life." Everyone except those directly opposing the Empire and the Emperor directly, which basically are just warp worshipers and those few anti-imperial cults and organizations. If the Empire was that tolerant there would be very few heretics to burn.

Considering the lack of dogma except "sacrifice yourself for your emperor, obey your betters, praise him on terra!"

Which means work hard, fight hard, pray hard. Die Hard! Which also means clerics are less likely to bother your way of living. As long as you seem faithful enough and don't revolt or slack off, you can do pretty much whatever you want.

So to sum it up:

Puritan work ethic.

Martyrdom.

Don't rise above your station

Serve the Empire not yourself.

Respect the word of those who serve him (Ministorium).

Loyalty to your superiors.

That's pretty much it, isn't it?

Friend of the Dork said:

Yes.

That is the GW/40K way.

I worded my statement as dangerously ambiguous as I could. That way you can justify almost anything.

It can be broken down into three parts.

Live your life for the Emperor / Imperium = Do what those closer to the Emperor (clergy) tell you.

Give your life for the Emperor / Imperium = Join the IG, work yourself to death, etc. so the Imperium survives

Treat others as needed for the betterment of the Imperium of man = To those in power, do as you will to accomplish the first two tasks

But yes, what you said sums up the general ideas.