THE IMPERIAL MESSIAH
The Imperium is led, at least in principle, by a man called The Emperor of Mankind. This will be the first post on the theology present in Warhammer 40k, focusing on the center of this theology I see in Warhammer, and the center of the Imperium itself: it’s Emperor. Let me make it clear that these are not always obvious parallels to physical events that are deemed Christian, like the story of Jesus, but their parallels are in their spiritual significance to Christians. But first a brief introduction for newcomers:
Declared a god, the only god of mankind by his followers, The Emperor of Mankind is a towering hulk of a man with psychic powers unparalleled by any man in history. He is possibly a perpetual, meaning he can resurrect if killed, although this has not been verified. He sits on a golden throne on Terra. He was mortally wounded during a great civil war called the Horus Heresy by his son and the leader of the insurgency, Horus Lupercal. Because of this, he has been interred on the golden throne, for millennia, undead yet alive and rotting, yet his psychic power is still stronger than any human can imagine, he still interacts with the universe. The claims of the Emperor’s perpetuality can only be verified if he is allowed to die, but the High Lords of Terra will never let that happen, the risk of losing the emperor is too great. He emits a psychic field across the imperium, visible to psykers (Warhammer’s name for psychics), to guide them in their dangerous journeys through the warp.
If you are perceptive, you would see the Emperor as a Christ figure, but if you look even closer, the parallels are very much deeper. We’ll not be looking at his origins since that’s not where the parallels are. Rather we’ll be looking at his role and history as the Emperor as the parallel.
The first most obvious parallel is his godhood, being the most powerful human to ever live, he is on a level far beyond most beings. At his peak of power, many describe a towering hulk of a man whose presence is not just a consequence of his height. His psychic presence alone overwhelmed most, making them want to bow to someone who is clearly beyond their league. Some described his face as even shining. This is generally the antithesis of Jesus’ Earthly life, but there are descriptions of Jesus in His glorified form, which are very similar. The Emperor is the supreme ruler of Mankind, proclaimed to be above every other government, human or otherwise, every “principality and power”. He is seated on a golden throne, where he ”sends” his psychic aura or “spirit” in order to guide his people in their journey through the cursed world of the warp, sound familiar? Just as the symbol of Jesus is the slain lamb on the throne, so the Emperor is a decaying “slain” corpse on a throne; dead yet alive. Jesus was betrayed to his death by a disciple, the Emperor to “undeath” by his son. Can you see what I see? What have I missed? Are there any other parallels that you may have noticed also? You can answer that in the comments section below. This is just the beginning and heart of the parallels, I’m looking forward to posting more. Thank you for reading, and Pax Christi.
This post first appeared on my blog
All images are screenshots taken from videos posted on the youtube channel 40k Theories.
