Filian Church

The **Church of the Children of God**, or the **Filian Church** or **the Church** for short,is the organisation of the Faith of the Children of God, predominant monotheistic religion on the continent. Worship focuses on a single omni-present, omni-benevolent and almighty deity referred to simply as God. Stemming from the ancient beliefs of the Elves in the monotheistic Heavenly Father whose precepts governed their ancient caste-like society, the Church's beliefs are radical, stemming from the influence of the ascendant human culture in which they were co-opted and evolved further: all races are considered the equal children of God, and are called to love and serve God and eachother in their various ways. This vital innovation has made the faith of Church broader than any previous religion, with devotions and beliefs taking on a stupendous variety within the framework of the Church itself. The Ancient Gods of the Old Ways which were worshipped before the continent were co-opted as saints or demons, given "mortal" lifes to reconcile their important precepts of the faith. These devotions to saints like St. Bahamut, St. Yondalla and St. Moradin have outgrown the unreformed versions of the Gods.

The Church's scripture is very diverse, ranging from the original Fatherly Precepts of the Elves with its legal and historical precepts to the Chant of the Children, the central text of the new faith which recast many of those teachings in a more universal, moralist, diverse and arguably egalitarian light. The Church also accepts the Sacred Tradition, writings of various saints and fathers, as part of scripture, which is a moderating influence on the sometimes radical message of the Chant, which is part of the reason for its repudiation by its recently-emerging rival, the Chantry reform movement.

The symbol of the Filian Church is a sword, its point pointing down, with a sunburst behind the crossguard and sometimes a crescent moon above the pommel. The sword symbolises Filius's self-sacrifice, willingly letting himself be stabbed by the elvish High King Alderecorín. It is always depicted pointing downwards to symbolise the defeat of the sword by Filius's resurrection; alternatively, it is depicted blunted. Depicting it point-up is considered sacrilegious. When a standing depiction of the sword is made, for instance as a devotional depiction of the Church is symbol, it is often depicted thrust into the ground or a hewed rock. The sunburst represents the power and light of God, as well as Filius's resurrection. Combined with the crescent moon, it additionally represents the teaching of sun and moon with which the prophet explained the cornerstone of the Fatherly Precepts: to love God (the sun), reflected by the commandment to love all His children (the moon). In very rare cases, twelve stars may also be included in the symbol, representing the Twelve Precepts themselves.

The Church is led by a powerful hierarchy whose highest office-holder, the Filiarch, resides at the Holy Mountain.

The Church's leadership, liturgy, moral codes and tradition where not otherwise described can be assumed to largely mirror those of the real-world medieval Catholic Church.