Gospel of Humanity

After more than half a month of emergency training, the Human Evangelical was officially established, with Auxilia personnel acting as preaching chaplains and progressive, active members of the former Ecclesiarchy serving as their assistants.

Aside from the original churches, a large number of hastily constructed, crude preaching venues appeared as well.

As for the scripture used for preaching, it was the Gospel of Humanity, compiled by Huron in coordination with Chapter Chaplains and some of the more progressive Ecclesiarchy members.

Its main content used the form of myths and legends to blend modern morals deemed appropriate by Huron, the basic contents of the Badab Codex, and the humanist spirit of the new government into various fable-like stories.

Due to his own transformation, Liam grew very interested in faith in the Emperor, so in his spare time, he went to a church to listen to a chaplain's sermon.

This was a model house rapidly built from duracrete and steel plates, and pockmarked traces were still visible on the walls, making it exceptionally crude. There was an Emperor's statue molded from plasteel on the pulpit, devoid of features.

If it were members of the former Ecclesiarchy, they would certainly have considered this kind of place a desecration of the God-Emperor, but such people had basically been shot. Coupled with the fact that most attendees were underhivers, naturally no one raised objections to this.

Liam sat at the back of the preaching hall, looking at the chaplain on the pulpit wearing golden sacred vestments.

He held a golden Gospel of Humanity in his hands, his tone stirring: "Brothers and sisters, welcome you to come and listen to the holy edicts of the Emperor."

He raised the Gospel of Humanity in his hands: "This holy scripture was personally compiled by the Living Saint, Lord Lufgt Huron, who is blessed by the Emperor. He is also the Chapter Master of the Astral Claws Chapter, which is to say, one of those whom everyone regards as the God-Emperor's angels."

Ever since Liam joined the construction engineering corps, he could basically hear this name every day. Many of the moderate policies that contradicted his "common sense" were issued in Huron's name.

Based solely on everything he saw now, he believed that Lufgt Huron truly was a living saint gazed upon by the Emperor, or else it could not explain why he was so merciful and lenient.

The chaplain opened the scripture in his hands: "Now, open the Gospel, turn to the first page, and let us begin today's listening."

Rustle, rustle~ The sound of turning pages rang out among the crowd below.

Liam looked somewhat blankly at the scriptures flipping in other people's hands. Where were these scriptures sold? Since it was his first time coming, he hadn't managed to buy one yet.

However, the atmosphere at the scene was solemn and quiet, and Liam didn't feel it appropriate to speak up and ask, so he planned to ask the chaplain after the sermon ended.

"A very long time ago, the Emperor wandered alone in the void. He looked at the stars all over the sky and felt a pang of loneliness.

He said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light in the world. But the light only illuminated Him alone, and He was still lonely.

He said: 'Let there be land.' And there was land in the world, but upon the land there was only Him alone, and He was still lonely.

So the Emperor used the dust of the stars to mold the image of the first person, and breathed His own breath into it.

That person opened his eyes, looked at the Emperor, and asked: 'Who am I?'

The Emperor said: 'You are human. You are a part of Me, and also My everything.'

That person asked again: 'What shall I do?'

The Emperor said: 'You shall live, you shall reproduce, you shall build, you shall think. You shall become the master of the stars, not the slave of the stars. You shall surpass Me, rather than forever look up to Me.'

The Emperor then used the same dust to create a second person, a third person, until there were thousands upon millions.

The Emperor looked at them, and joy filled His heart.

Yet the Emperor knew that humanity was still very weak.

So the Emperor planted a seed in the heart of every person—the seed of rationality, the seed of conscience, the seed of love.

The Emperor said: 'These seeds will grow up. When they grow up, you will no longer be My children, but My companions.'"

Having finished recounting the opening story, the chaplain paused, letting the crowd below mull over the contents just discussed.

Then he continued: "The Emperor created everyone using the same dust; He did not use gold to create one person and mud to create another. The seeds of rationality, conscience, and love were also planted by the Emperor in the heart of every single person, without omission."

"In the Emperor's eyes, there is no distinction of nobility and baseness, no masters and slaves. Anyone who proclaims themselves noble by birth is denying the Emperor's creation."

"Praise the Emperor!"

Everyone in the crowd below chanted in unison: "Praise the Emperor!"

When the praise concluded, the chaplain asked: "Having heard this holy edict, do you have any thoughts?"

Liam immediately raised his hand to signal.

Seeing Liam's appearance, the chaplain was slightly stunned, then reacted: "Very well, that believer who raised his hand, do you have any thoughts?"

Liam stood up: "If the Emperor created everyone equally, then how should we explain Lord Angel? Are they not noble and powerful?"

When the audience around him heard this, they couldn't help but gasp.

Not wanting to live anymore.jpg

Liam had thought the chaplain would get angry upon hearing such a question, but the chaplain instead broke into a smile.

In the contents of the emergency training, the Chapter Master had anticipated a large number of tricky questions that might be encountered and provided solutions for them; this question didn't even count for much among them.

Having preached several times, someone finally raised this question.

"Because that is a misunderstanding by worldly people and the tampering of false cults." The chaplain's voice remained stirring: "Everyone should have watched or heard about the live broadcast of Governor Odinson's trial of the Salome Family, right?"

A chorus of assent sounded from below.

"In the broadcast, Governor Odinson called himself an Astartes Brother, and it was only because of the world's misunderstanding that he said 'what everyone knows as an Angel'. This is also a misconception that Governor Odinson wishes to clarify."

"Astartes Brothers are indeed powerful, but their strength is not innate; rather, it is because they themselves are outstanding warriors selected from countless people. They originally came from the common people, and are a part of the common people."

"As for nobility, Astartes Brothers are indeed laden with glory, enjoying the praise and reverence of the world, but this was never something they were born with. Instead, it is because, as powerful warriors among mankind, they cleared away brambles and fought bloody battles for humanity, naturally becoming laden with honor as a result."

The chaplain paused and continued to explain: "Just like the Astartes Brothers of the Astral Claws, they judged the corrupt nobles, purged the wicked gangs, and wiped out countless mutant tribes and evil cults. Should they not enjoy the honor they deserve?"

The crowd below immediately voiced their agreement. The improvements brought by the Astral Claws were solid and real. To mention nothing else, the massive amounts of compressed starch blocks couldn't possibly be fake, and the entire underhive was welcoming a situation where everyone could eat their fill for the very first time.

After finishing his explanation, the chaplain looked at Liam: "This believer, do you have any other questions?"

Liam shook his head: "None."

The chaplain smiled and nodded: "That's good, sit down, and let us listen to the rest of the holy edict."