Gregorianism

Gregorianism
The Chamber of Beneficience in X, East Ruthen
Type	Universalizing religion
Classification	Imirianic
Scripture	Gregorian Canon
Theology	Monotheism, Trinitarianism, Gnosticism
Region	Worldwide
Founder	Gregory, Princeps Mundi, Agnes Salvator
Origin	1st century CE Melia, Hernician Empire

Gregorianism is an Imirianic trinitarian religion focused on the teachings of Gregory, the proclaimed Divine Manifestation who preached in Calesia and Northern Hylasia in the 1st century CE. It is the largest religion on the world, with approximately 2.8 billion followers, more than X% of the global population, and it has shaped the cultural institutions, belief systems, and ideologies of most of the Old World.

Gregorian beliefs and practice are diverse amongst its many sects, but a unifying thread is the concept of a God whose triune nature manifests in creation and in the human experience. Gregorians hold that God's manifestation in the person of Gregory bridged the mundane and divine worlds and made possible human gnosis. This "divine realization" is believed to have been first facilitated by the reflection of God's three aspects in the persons of the earthly trinity, and is is currently perpetuated by the Gregorian religious body or the promised resurrection of the persons of the trinity, especially the Princeps Mundi and Agnes Salvator.

Gregorianism originated the 1st century CE in Hernician Melia from the teachings of Gregory, who is believed to have fled from Azeth following its sacking. The followers of Gregory, under an alliance with the Princeps Mundi, briefly took control of the Hernician Empire, but were later overthrown and then persecuted. Early Gregorians subsequently appear in the historical record as a sect of who idealized the leaders of the earlier political uprising as martyrs, and whose ideas quickly spread throughout the Empire (and across the sea to Abaria) in the 3rd century CE.

Disputes over the nature of the trinity and eschatology culminated in the division of the faith between Apostolic and Principal sects in the 4th century, while the Cathedralist organ that had become established in Calesia split into north and south in the 11th century, and later split with the Presterists during the Great Prester. The discovery of the New World and the increasing dominance of Calesian powers further spread the faith and practice of Gregorianism worldwide.

History

Origin

Main article: Palmerism

Theology

Main article: God in Gregorianism

Waldish depiction of the earthly trinity, 15th century

Trinity

Gregorian theology is centred on the Trinity, a framework inherited from Palmeric thought, which positions and defines God, Spirit, and Creation, while also structuring and explaining each of those hypostases themselves. The three faces of God as supreme being are disputed, but Spirit — as that which experiences the world naturalistically — is widely agreed to consist of the phenomenological divisions of sensation, action, and thought in the human mind. Creation — supernatural divinity that acts upon the world — is perceived through the archetypes of Father, Son, and Daughter, as all its appearances have narrative and mythic structure. Each element of these trinities corresponds to one in another, as well as fractally containing other trinities, and new trinities are devised ubiquitously as devices of Gregorian theology and mysticism.

Apprehension of any two of the three produces confusion over their apparent opposition, which is only completed and resolved through introducing the third to thus reach a full understanding of the divine, but (at least in orthodox understandings) without subsuming or occluding any of them. The natural and mundane world experienced by Spirit, via man's own ordinary faculties, seems hard to reconcile with the tremendous, unfathomable forces of Creation that must have been involved in creating it, but this is resolved through the disclosure of God, who acts through and upon both (but is not merely this simultaneity). The recognition of the divine Trinity is higher insight into reality itself; symbolic trinities are an ubiquitous device and interpretable theme in Gregorian theology and philosophy.

Reflection and "Schism"

Gregorianism follows the Imirianic tradition in defining Man as a reflection of God, having been created in the latter's image. However, this merely dualistic relationship positions Man as an inherently 'schismatic' character, overconfident of his own abilities, jealous of God, and seeking to usurp the latter's place, akin to mistaking a mirrored image for the real object. Yet the derivative, 'reflected' nature of Man means he will always fail in this rebellion, and this condemns him to a nauseous condition with existence. To overcome this is to recognize and submit to God through becoming aware of Creation, thus fully acknowledging and accepting one's own nature as image, remaining distinct but at the same time elevated by knowledge of the full picture. Evil simply comes from doomed attempts to reject and overthrow divine order by the schismatic, and is represented in Gregorian demonology by prideful beings such as Sahariel.

Manifestation

Schism is overcome through the manifestation — or more specifically in Gregorian symbology the tangible 'grasping' with one's hands — of God. This is the very definition of Gregorianism as the practice of religion, which both presents and demonstrates the truth, and as the act of approaching God. The dogmas and objects of veneration of Gregorianism — most importantly the earthly trinity and the Gregorian canon — are significant in that they are manifestations in the world, tremendous acts of Creation that are nonetheless intelligible to the Spirit to understand God. Along these lines, the organized practice of Gregorianism is understood as a path which involves both studied doctrine and passionate devotion.

Earthly trinity

The earthly trinity are the central figures of Gregorianism. Gregory is the central prophet and teacher of the religion, who not only taught the nature of trinity and reflection and manifested God on Earth, but further demonstrated it recursively through his work with his two greatest apostles, Agnes Salvator and Princeps Mundi, during the Thearchy in which they briefly assumed power over the Hernician Empire.

Gregory declared both the Prince and Agnes to be his successors in some fashion or another. Both held parts of his power that would be preserved and passed down, and he heavily implied that one would return to herald the end and remaking of the world. But the very vague terms this was done in, and seemingly contradictory accounts in the canon, have led to diverging interpretations on what was meant by either. Most famously this has resulted in the schism between Principal and Apostolic Gregorianism, which believe that the occulted figure to return is the Prince or Agnes respectively. 'Maximal' Gregorianism, meanwhile, dismisses any supernatural heritage on part of either the Prince and Agnes, regarding both as mere demonstrations of Gregory's power. Regardless of this, however, all three figures are heavily (if not equally) venerated and celebrated across most major branches of Gregorianism.

Afterlife and Eschatology

There are very few widely agreed upon Gregorian doctrines concerning the afterlife. The permanence of the soul is a prominent point of theological schism, while folk beliefs on the matter are diverse and often contradictory even within the same cultural sphere. Scripture discusses various higher planes, which have been sometimes interpreted as heavens for the virtuous to seek manifestation more conveniently, as well as various abyssal visions that have been interpreted as hells that the schismatic fall to suffer in.

Gregorian eschatology centers on the Cosmoclasm, an event which is heralded by the return of one or several members of the earthly trinity depending on the interpretation, and which results in the resurrection of the dead, the appearance of God before all, and the destruction and recreation of the universe. Cosmoclasm is understood as a final great act of Creation that will fully convince a Spirit of it and God's existence, opening and ending existence in the same terms. It is also the final great act of Manifestation, as God shows His supremacy in the most manifest manner to all beholding souls that would have otherwise doubted.

Religious texts

Main article: Gregorian Canon

Cleronomy

The Cleronomy is a compilation of texts from before Gregory's ministry, which Gregory designated as valid, credible demonstrations of God preceding him. However, such recommendations cannot be attested for all of these works, and different churches have very different collections of Cleronomy, all maintaining that theirs were what had been preserved by early Gregorians from Gregory's ministry. In some interpretations, previous Gregories had authored these works for the current Gregory to re-reveal them to the world. The texts themselves are primarily Ifrahi Palmerist in origin, deriving from the literary and philosophical tradition of classical Azeth, although some show influence from or incorporate elements of Melian epics.

Triptych

The Triptych consists of three books centred on Gregory: the account of his early life and studies in Azeth, the account of his teachings in Azeth and Melia, and the account of his political career in Hernicia and alongside the other two members of the earthly trinity. The central status of the Triptych is accepted among all Gregorian churches, and most of them agree on the same original text.

Elucidations

Many branches of Gregorianism also revere teachings of Gregory that had been purportedly sealed away or lost, but then miraculously revealed or rediscovered, known as Elucidations.