Church of The One

== History ==
The Church of The One has two points of creation, one long ago in a time long forgotten, in a more simplistic yet more complete form, before it was corrupted by the affairs of man, and one in just recent years with its rediscovery by Cream Man. During Cream Man's journeys across Rathnir, and his study of different religious texts through his cooperation and friendship with many of the librarians across the world, he was able to access a wealth of religious information both in writing and in person, be it through being taught by practitioners, or the study of ruins. This wealth of knowledge led him to the discovery that all of the faiths of Rathnir had once been one, in devotion of a single deity, one with many names, but that he refers to as The One. 
== Theology ==
=== On the Origins of Reality ===
In the beginning there was The One, and he was complete, and he was eternal. The One manifested into being all that is, and all that will ever be, all at once. Time laid out to The One, as a record's grooves are to us, the linearity of the flow of the music only relative to its being played, that every note exist pre-inscribed upon the record before, during, and after it is reached by the needle of the record player. The One created all of the heavens and the world, and all of the peoples that populate Rathnir, and the first among them he revealed himself to, and thus the original church was built, and thus man knew truth.
=== On the Origins of Religions ===
In the book The Theologia, Cream Man discusses the origins of all of the religions that are scattered across Rathnir. Broadly speaking, religions are categorized into the Polytheistic, Aesthetic, and the Monotheistic. 
Cream Man argues that Polytheism is directly the result of politics, that the division of the original monotheistic God into his individual attributes was used in order to justify war and conquest, and that nearly all Polytheistic religions are at their core monotheistic, where the multitude of gods are just misattributions of the unified One that exists outside of time and space. 
The Aesthetics are argued to be worshipping the same God as the Church of The One, that the beauty or inhuman-ness of the Aesthetic religion's idolization give glory to The One. While they are still in need of conversion in order to see the fullness of The One, they are one the right path. 
The Monotheists as a category are considered closest to proper worship of The One, but all but The Church of The One fall short as they still have somehow suffered some sort of theological distortion which has corrupted their faith. The integration of other monotheistic faiths, as well as all other religions, are discussed in Worship
=== The Rites ===
In Worship Cream Man establishes a system to integrate the broken off pieces of the original Church of The One back into the faith. That which exists within the faith that gives glory to The One is to be preserved, the beauty of their churches and temples to be esteemed highly. The virtues espoused are to be upheld and reinforced through the establishment of a system of rites, in which the once heretical religion is brought back into the Church, but the truths in which they focus are to be viewed as cultural expressions of the same faith. An example given would be the theoretical Big Wheelist Rite, in which the beauty of the wheel, and the virtues it represents are to be recontextualized as expressions of devotion to The One, though actual worship of the wheel itself is to be strictly forbidden.
=== The Clergy and Sacraments ===
In Worship Cream Man argues that in order to discover the correct means of practicing devotion to The One, that we must look at the overlaps that exist between all of the different faiths of Rathnir. He derives the Initiation, and Marriage as the foundation of the functions of the religion, as well as the need for a beautiful place of worship, and a need for respect and reverence for this place of worship. The initiation into the church is to be done with the drinking of a flask full of blessed water. In order to oversee these functions requires the establishment of a clergy that will oversee the affairs of the church, and will interpret and spread the faith. At the head of the faith is the Prima Theologia, who appoints priests and oversees the political affairs of the church. Additionally, the establishment of The Council, an event in which all the clergy will meet to debate matters of doctrine can be called by the Prima Theologia, and their findings are to be considered infallible additions to doctrine.
=== Holy Books ===
Rather than present a unique Holy Book for the Church of The One, members are encouraged to read as many Holy Books as possible, and to try to integrate their wisdom back into the Church of The One, as long as it doesn't defy the doctrine of the church.
Category:Religions
Category:History
Category:Traveler's Era