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[Katrina Oniseki]

... the Amarr are somehow all of the same medieval catholic church with the exact same beliefs and doctrines, ...

I was under the actual impression that there is only one church in the Empire, and anything else is heresy. Granted, human nature says there are subcultures that don't follow Theology Council dogma to the exact letter, and some who actually disagree with the TC... but generally speaking they are all one church.

Right? Or is there more to it that I am missing? Are there different versions of the Amarr 'church' legally operating within the Empire? Is the Theology Council merely a regulatory body to ensure that these separate churches are 'proper', rather than an equivalent of a college of Cardinals?

[Karmilla Strife]

I was under the impression that there were many sects and interpretations of the Amarrian faith and the the TC is the theological regulatory body that says which are allowed and which should be suppressed. Sani Sabik were a legal sect for a while and I believe there is even an Achuran system of beliefs that is TC approved.

EDIT: The same faith also exists in the Khanid Kingdom, outside the influence of the TC.

[Aelisha Montenagre]

I tend to assume that the Empire has many sub-sects, as posited by Karmilla, due in part to the aggressive culture of reclaiming.  As with the big organised religions irl, concessions to local religious beliefs that are not antithetical to the core Amarrian faith actually enhance the indoctrination process, and a willing/awed/fearful population with something in common with you is far more palatable than having to clap every single one of them in irons, even if you have a serious technological advantage. 

For example, the Ni Kunni were manipulated with their reverence of water (due to their extreme desert home world), with the Amarr literally gifting them with the precious liquid from the skies.  God does indeed provide, though the fact that intolerable cultural mores are now deemed heretical, and you must 'work off your sins' for nine generations may still cause friction.  The fact remains that the partial acceptance helps convince people they are still a part of God's plan, and so the Theocracy council catalogues a hundred or more sub-sects, using a gentle hand to slowly homogenise them into the mainstream and attempting to ensure that all such interpretations can survive incidental contact without internal civil disobedience as a result. 

The Amarr Empire is probably the most paperwork laden bureaucracy in the cluster, even more so than the federation democratic process.  Cataloguing the lifestyles, beliefs and output of its many worlds and using broad strokes of their undoubtedly potent cultural development to ensure that a culture won over, is mere centuries from theocratic and political homogenisation - enriching the Empire in imperceptible ways with new ways of thinking, while ensuring a uniformity of belief and practice that allows a Feudal Theocracy to maintain stability. 

[Makkal]

Amarr religion looks more homogenous than it is, and I've always assumed that was deliberate. After hours, you might debate the finer points of faith with another believer, but in public it's important to present a unified front.

[Graelyn]

I was under the impression that there were many sects and interpretations of the Amarrian faith and the the TC is the theological regulatory body that says which are allowed and which should be suppressed.

This is, in fact, what all indications point to.

It's also why capsuleer clergy is barely tolerated, as long as we don't go making any proclamations on what we are/are not within the Faith.

Note that various leanings in the Faith Empire-wide differ on what Capsuleers are, ranging from soulless abominations, to something else.

I'd been building up to a big event where Capsuleer clergy would do just that, pressure the TC to decide (they've been deliberating for a decade or more, which isn't uncommon for them historically) once and for all what a capsuleer IS when it comes to matters of the soul. There would have been massive political repercussions that I won't get into here.

Event got nixed. Falcon warned that developments in the Amarr religion, and how it relates to capsuleers will be apart of some upcoming lore-dumps, which would make our efforts rather pointless. And so we do nothing some more.

[Gottii]

Sure, I think there are all one "church", and probably follow the same basic tenets.

But going with the Catholic Church as a very vague example, I'm sure there is a massive local differences.  Even in the Catholic Church, there are massive differences between say the Catholic practices of Latin America versus the practices of the Catholic Church of the Far East.  And those are differences on just one planet.  The differences over entire sectors could likely be pretty extensive.

On top of cultural and historical influences, there is the doctrinal differences between the various orders of priests.  The Dominicans, the Jesuits, the Franciscans, the Hieronymites etc, all have nuanced but still significant differences in doctrinal interpretation. 

Now, add to that political intrigue and status among the various Houses, and I think that would actually be a driving force a lot of the differences. ( "I'll be damned if we worship in the same way as the Task-Murkons, we Kadors have believed in (doctrinal point of contention) since the start of the Reclaiming"). 

Basically, I could see a massive number of differences in the Amarrian religion over the span of the Empire.  It could actually be something like the  Ecclesiarchy of 40k by political necessity.  ("Look, so long as you believe in God, the Empress, do what we say, and pay your taxes, we dont really care that much").

[Ashley]

This is interesting.

So after a google run I found this.

Apparently there are valid sects of the Amarrian faith and there is also The orthodox church based on which TC say yay or nay.

[Samira Kernher]

There are at least two other confirmed subordinate churches. The Salvation Church of Blessed Servitude (slave church), and the Ammatar Church. Jin-Mei spiritualism is also welcomed in the Empire and occasionally incorporated into the wider religion, and there are some more individual variations (such as the use of water rituals in Ni-Kunni Amarrians).

Keep in mind that the separate churches are not separate religions. At worst they're heterodoxy. They're still recognized as being part of the Amarr faith, just with slightly different focuses/interpretations. They certainly don't go against the Theology Council's rulings, and aren't considered heretical.

There's also the Kingdom church, which can be considered a separate church as well, as it follows its own take on things. Whether it is heterodoxy or heretical depends on who you ask.

And as said, there's differences between the Houses that affect how individual regions might see the faith. Faithful from Ardishapur territories and faithful from Tash-Murkon ones are going to have different mindsets. This is usually simplified down to Traditional vs Liberal, but there's more variations than that.

Also, the Amarr church is not like the Catholic church, and shouldn't be. Quite a few of us prefer more Persian or Islamic influences over Catholic ones.

[Shintoko Akahoshi]

The feel of the trappings of Roman Catholicism, Zoroastrianism and Shi'ite Islam are very similar - lots of rich symbology and a focus on a mystery which is only gradually exposed to the worshipper. I think the orthodox Imperial church has been depicted with much the same feel. Aside from the original timeline that mentioned Catholics in the history of Amarr, this feel is probably the main reason why those of us in the West associate the Amarr faith with Catholicism. Folks more familiar with, say, Zoroastrianism or Shia probably would feel the same sort of association.

[Nicoletta Mithra]

While I agree that Amarrian religion isn't Roman catholicism and one should öook in many regards to Zoroastrianism or Shi'ah Islam for example, it isn't Zoroastrianism or Shi'ah Islam either and there are respects in which (Roman Catholic) Christianity is more similar to the Amarr religion than the other two.

In regard to the different churches, which the Amarrian Religion does definitely have, it seems quite similar to Roman Catholic Christianity. It's little known, but Roman Catholicism doesn't consist of a single church either, but of many churches are in full communion with the Holy See. The Catholic Church is made up of 23 autonomous particular churches.

The Catholic Church mentioned in the Amarr timeline, the Unified Catholic Church of Mankind is certainly another beast than the Roman Catholic Church.

[Louella Dougans]

Falcon warned that developments in the Amarr religion, and how it relates to capsuleers will be apart of some upcoming lore-dumps, which would make our efforts rather pointless. And so we do nothing some more.

Was there a timescale for this ? or just "soon" ?

Right? Or is there more to it that I am missing? Are there different versions of the Amarr 'church' legally operating within the Empire? Is the Theology Council merely a regulatory body to ensure that these separate churches are 'proper', rather than an equivalent of a college of Cardinals?

There are multiple groups, within what may be termed "Amarr mainstream religion". There are also several groups which the Theology Council appear to consider acceptable, such as the various Khanid sects that exist and which are mentioned in the background description when creating a Khanid zealot character.

The Theology Council is the body that says "This is Scripture", and as long as the other groups agree that yes, it is Scripture, then they seem reasonably free to interpret meanings of those scripture, within limits.

Groups that disagree about "This is Scripture", such as the Order of Tetrimon, can sometimes be tolerated, but they will never be on particularly friendly terms.

Two Amarrians enter a room, three religions come out.

[Silas Vitalia]

It's a wide Empire, hundreds of planets, thousands of continents.  Lots of variety in their practicing of the Imperial faith.  There's plenty of Catholics in Brazil flagellating themselves with whips and nailing themselves to crosses, but you won't see the head priest in NYC doing anything of the sort.

Now, I'm sure the Theology Council on Athra doesn't deem to bother with the head church on some backwater planet not saying the proper meal blessing in the High Imperial Style...... unless politics is involved and someone pissed someone off.   I imagine as long as people stay under the radar all sorts of minor things are tolerated. 

Raising a religious ruckus, however, is not, and will be squashed immediately and ruthlessly.

[Graelyn]

Falcon warned that developments in the Amarr religion, and how it relates to capsuleers will be apart of some upcoming lore-dumps, which would make our efforts rather pointless. And so we do nothing some more.

Was there a timescale for this ? or just "soon" ?

Nothing really. It's still summer though, so chomping at the bit in wait is probably ill-advised.

[Shiori]

Falcon warned that developments in the Amarr religion, and how it relates to capsuleers will be apart of some upcoming lore-dumps, which would make our efforts rather pointless. And so we do nothing some more.

That physically hurt to read.

[Repentence Tyrathlion]

Falcon warned that developments in the Amarr religion, and how it relates to capsuleers will be apart of some upcoming lore-dumps, which would make our efforts rather pointless. And so we do nothing some more.

That physically hurt to read.

Slightly bemusing.  Surely that would be an ideal catalyst?  Players kick the ball to get it rolling, loredump ensues?