Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-11362186-20130628180633/@comment-6134883-20130629020805

I seriously doubt Empy had a hand in creating either Judaism or Christianity - given that the former originated among a tiny nation of nomadic tribes and the latter was founded by a poor craftsman descended from said nomads and his message reached slaves and peasants long before it got to the top. Islam is a possible - unifying the tribes of Arabia and conquering North Africa and Asia Minor sound like things Empy would have done. On the other hand he is unlikely to have watched his successors fight for leadership without intervening.

Zoroastrianism with its black and white dualism sounds like Empy again (the man deals in absolutes) and it quickly became the state religion of a major empire. I wouldn't be surprised if Empy didn have a hand in the creation of Mithraism, a mystery religion aimed specifically at soldiers that became popular in the Roman Empire but eventually lost out to Christianity.

The eastern religions; Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism seem MOST unlikely given the completely otherworldly orientation of the first two and the very specific sino-centric nature of the third. Nor does Hinduism seem a likely contendor for Empy creation.

In fact it looks like, assuming Empy did have something to do with Zoroastrianism and Mithraism, his attempts to found religions were less then successful. On the other hand he may well have tried to USE religion to further his ends - and probably failed.

I have never questioned the depth and sincerity of Empy's dedication to protecting and defending Humanity. But let's face it - he's made a few mistakes a long the way. Make that some MAJOR mistakes! And he is not blameless for the current mess.