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[big]Valianity[/big][/center][big]
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Religion in Fornoire[/big]
Valianity (Fornirian: Valianitiem) is one of the largest religions in Fornoire. Practiced across Fornoire, it has ~40-42 million followers, and 25% of the Fornirian populace practice it. Valianists believe in a singular God, with “divine agents” created by this deity to govern the nature of the universe.
Historians put the existence of this religion since the 17th-11th century BC, roughly along with religions like Solgaleo-Lunalaism. Having dominated the capital, Catherine, Fornirian royalty are usually adherents of this faith, although some distant royals and a majority of the nobility are not.
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Beliefs[/big]
As stated before, Valianists believe in a singular God, with “divine agents” created by this deity to govern the nature of the universe.
There are seven of these “agents”: Verana (governs life), Inatalia (governs the elements), Korena (governs the Sun), Lunesi (governs the Moon), Saratiya (governs the stars), Feiti (governs the Earth), and Ateina (governs intelligence and emotions). These beings, in Valianist mythology, shape a broad range of areas for their God, but do as instructed by this deity. Apparently, it views these creatures as pawns, so it does not have to work as much. The universe is all, according to this religion, according to its design, and it governs all the things these beings do not.
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Rituals[/big]
Valianists have different styles of prayer depending the denomination they belong in. Due to it being an ancient religion, these sects have diverged on rituals quite a bit, although, at their core, they retain general principles.
Temples of Prayer
Most of the sects believe in the prayer to the agents and their God. Some demand quiet prayer, while others chant and praise their deity and its agents loudly and with jubilation. And some believe that prayer must be done with their community only, others think that prayer is a personal matter between their God and yourself, and a majority believe that both forms of prayer, communal and personal, are acceptable.
In any case, the communal form of prayer is done at the Temples of Prayer, where people gather and praise their God and its agents. Here, a Priest of Prayer in many sects leads the prayer, either chosen by the community or by the sect’s leadership.
Temples of Thought
These temples are not on all sects, but most do have them. Here, a Priest of Thought, either elected by the faithful or by the sect, leads the community through the Sacred Texts, the holy texts of Valianity. They contain the stories of the creation of the universe, the mythological history, and their religion’s creeds and rules. These sessions of lecture of the holy texts are held once a month, and these encourage reflection and study of them.
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Sects of Valianity[/big]
Valianity is divided into five main sects: Roushian, Katolia, Miina, Protestant, and Reformed. The first three have, more or less, have existed since antiquity, but the latter two are fairly recent from a historical point of view.
The Roushian Church
The Roushian sect is headed by the Roushian Church, a highly centralized organization. It is considered the first centralized form of Valianity, as it was created by bishops in the 4th century BC, claiming that the Bishop of Catherine was the titular descendent of the most important prophet and first leader of Valianity: Vaniatus. Since then, this bishop has commanded the Roushian Church, and his descendents are chosen via a council of all the bishops of the denomination.
Their Priests of Prayer and Thought are chosen by the bishop of the particular region they oversee, and the bishops themselves are chosen by the Bishop of Catherine. They believe in both communal and personal prayer, and hold that quiet prayer is the optimal form of it. Their leadership hold supreme authority over Roushian doctrine, thus directing the canon of the Church. Councils by bishops and decisions by the Bishop of Catherine determine major aspects of their doctrine, and instruct their priests to teach this to their congregations.
The Katolian Church
The Katolian Church originated as a group of dissenting bishops and priests 200 years after the foundation of the Roushian Church. Considered as a heretical organization, it was persecuted by the Roushians, and only until the Divine War of 163 BC was the persecution stopped. At the time, Fornoire was split into various countries, but the conflict went beyond state lines, with war coming to even those who were neutral.
They opposed the centralization of religious authority, wanting to return to the old ways of the community electing priests, and priests electing their regional bishops. However, wishing some centralization, they chose for a Primal Bishop to lead the Katolian Church, elected from the bishops of this institution. He or she has less power than the Roushian Bishop of Catherine, only serving as an administrator for the Church.
Like the Roushians, Bishops gather in councils to determine church doctrine. Like the Roushians, they instruct their priests on Katolian Canon. And, generally, they hold more or less the same beliefs: both a quiet form of communal and personal are the norm, and they praise the agents of their deity (OOC: Think of it as the Catholics as the Roushians, and the Katolians as Orthodox).
Miina Church
The Miina Church is another splinter of Valianity. Created 150 years after the Katolian Church, it was forged by dissenters from both the Roushian and Katolian denominations. First considered as a heresy, it was persecuted in areas dominated by non-Miinan bishops by both the Roushians and Katolians, but their persecution died 65 years after its creation.
It, like the Katolians, allows the local communities to elect their priests, and for priests to elect bishops. However, it disapproves of personal prayer, believing it to be “greedy and selfish”. Instead, the community unites to pray for the “communal good”. Like their Roushian and Katolian counterparts, they praise the divine agents, and decide their doctrinal disputes with councils to determine Miinan canon. It is said to be the most decentralized of the Three Churches (Roushian, Katolian and Miinan), with no central leader. Instead, the administration of the church is the responsibility of the bishops, who meet either at the regional level or at the national level at the various Regional and National Congresses of Bishops of the Miinan Church. They reunite every month or so in sessions, discussing doctrine and church matters.
It is unique for believing that the divine agents are not fully conscious beings, but part of their God, and separate at the same time (kind of like Trinitarianism in Christianity). This is the Septimian principle, and, once seen as a heresy and just a fringe idea in some circles, the Miinan Church was the first to ever adopt it and make it standard of an institution.
Unlike the Roushians and Katolians, they praise the agents and their God by jubilant, communal praise, cheerfully praying loudly to their deity and its agents. In some instances, they dance and sing in adulation to them. For them, praying like this means that you are grateful and devoted to the agents and their God. They believe that quiet prayer is just a formality, something not noticeable and dull. To express your devotion, you must speak and praise “from your heart”.
Protestants
The Protestants emerged in the 16th century, many years after the Three Churches. It was a new movement like no one had seen before, discarding bishops and the traditional authority of the priest.
The Protestants were a varied movement. But they formed churches and denominations (up to 300, many tiny, endangered and/or localized), most of them local. Some did reach some notability, like the Lauterian denomination, but most were unorganized, defined by their denomination and autonomy.
Most believe that prayer is up to the individual or church: quiet or loud, communal or personal. It was up to them. Most also reject the Septimian principle, and do worship the agents. But what sets them apart is that they merged the Temples of Prayer and Thought. Now, only one priest or pastor, either chosen by the community or by their local leadership, headed a temple of both prayer and study. At the time, this was a revolutionary idea, as the Roushian, Katolian and even the Miinan Churches all considered this to be a heresy.
For those whose local leadership chooses their priest or pastor, they either had church ministers, or the priest or pastor chose their successor. In some churches, the community elects these ministers, but in others, the priest or pastor does.
Protestants rejected bishops. They view them as unnecessary, as the community and its priest or pastor, not a regional bishop, must lead. They also usually rejected some formalized canon, instead proposing that priests and pastors should preach how they wished, and that congregants could choose their church according to how much they agreed with their leaders. However, some did form churches like the Three Churches. They are very decentralized, and only united by their canon. Like the Roushians, Katolians and Miinans, their priests called councils to determine their church canon (OOC: Think of them as the Anglican or Episcopalian Churches, but smaller, more decentralized and without bishops). These Protestant churches look like some sort of theological coalition, where temples are united not by a central figure, but by a shared set standard of doctrines.
Reformed
The Reformed movement emerged as an offshoot of the Protestants in the early 17th century. These were even more radical, with many rejecting the idea of priesthood entirely. Due to their history, some consider the Reforned to be a radical branch of Protestantism instead.
Unlike all of their different counterparts, the Reformed do not praise the divine agents. They don’t pray to them, but do acknowledge their existence. They only pray to their God, as they consider their deity the only being worthy of praise. This was a radical concept in those days, practically alien from every other sects that came before them, and thus all of the others considered the Reformed to be heretics, greater than other sects. In some cases, churches collaborated to stamp out this movement due to this, as their hatred for the Reformed was greater than their hatred among themselves.
They also don’t believe in communal prayer either. They see this form of prayer as impeding a personal and religiously deep relationship between you and God. For this, the Miinan Church was the most critical of the Reformed, even praising the killings of the Reformed all the way until the 1960s, when they apologized. All other sects had stopped in the 18th to 19th centuries, but the Miinan Church hated and persecuted the Reformed until the middle of the 20th century. It is noteworthy that the Reformed don’t have Temples of Prayer, just Temples of Thought.
And to the temples they have, there isn’t a leader, or so to speak of. Usually, the Reformed of a community gather and build a Temple of Thought, to which all are welcome to. The founders are not the leaders, and the temple is just there to study the holy scriptures. Of all the sects, the Reformed is by far the most decentralized. Due to this lifestyle, temples are not needed, as people are encouraged to read and interpret the holy texts by themselves, and discuss them if need be at the temples.
In the Reformed sect, Septimian principles are up to the individual. Due to their belief that the agents are not worthy of praise and prayer, some Reformed do accept Septimianism, but others don’t. Even in the same temple there may be Septimians and non-Septimians, although due to the heated discussions this ensues, this not common, but not unheard of either.
They also hate idols, as in the holy texts it warns against worshiping "false idols". Most Valianists believe that it referenced the non-Valianist religions, but the Reformed believe that it also warns against idolizing the agents or their God. Thus, in the early stages of the Reformed movement, some radicals of this sect attacked other churches for their idols.
The warnings against greed in the holy texts, the same that drove the Miinan Church to ban personal prayer, lead some of the Reformed to view even ambition to be rich or powerful as immoral. This branch of the Reformed is called the Austere, due to the humble living styles of those who practice this style of Reformism. Often, in an ironic fashion, the first of the Austere came from the Reformed converts originally belonging to the Miinan Church, who agreed with the Miinans on the evil of greed and agreed with the Reformed too. Some call the Austere their own sect, but due to their shared philosophy with other Reformed, they are not catalogued as such by many theologians and researchers.
The Reformed have no churches like the Three Churches. No Reformed church has ever sprang up, and those who did never flourished and just died. The theologically near-anarchist way of thinking has prevented any to be forged successfully. Thus, the Reformed have no formal canon. They are just defined by their practices and if they agree with Reformed theologians and writers.