Actually, I'm fairly certain the Emperor didn't have to touch Horus, he delivered the "psychic holocaust" through the chink in Horus' armor, which Sanguinius opened. There is no reason to believe that the Emperor could not have defeated Horus without the chink. I believe it is written somewhere that the Emperor was holding back in fighting Horus because he couldn't bring himself to really go all out on his favoured son until he saw how far gone Horus really was.
From the 6th Edition SM Code: "The first Space Marine Chapters were founded centuries before the development of the Imperial Cult or the Adeptus Ministorum, and with the lone exception of the Black Templars, Space Marines have never acknowledged the doctrines or religious supremacy of the Ecclesiarchy." And toss in the prayer and worship that the BTs are famous for, the Temple of Dorn where it is done (a temple), and you can see why people think that they see the Emperor as a god.
No the c'tan are just an uber powerful race mistaken for gods because they have so much power at their fingertips. The Hive Mind isn't a god, but a network as it doesn't have an actual identity, and is only reactionary. It adapts only with input given to it. If it had no input, there'd be no Hive Mind.[/quote] i know the hive mind and c'tan technically gods, but when you have so much power as to be as/more powerful than gods...does that make you one? or is a god only something from the warp that is immensly powerful. Also, when ever single c'tan is something unique like the night bringer or the deceiver...they seem to have gone beyond being a race of beings to a more...godlike existence. and the hive mind isnt a god--its the collective unconscious of the tyranids, but could we consider it one? I suppose not..
in the black templar codex i had--i need to get a new one--it said that the templars awknowledged the emperor as the greatest man to ever live, as well as rogal dorn as the second greatest. It states this contradicts what normal humans believe throughout the imperium, and contributes to the inquisitions suspicion of them. I wish i could provide a quote, but this does override what is said in a generic space marine book--written by matt ward no less.
The God Emperor not a god? Heresy! HERESY! how can a normal man live as long as he has!? By the Golden Throne of Terra! Heresey amongst our mids! once again we bring to the Crusade! Repent! Repent! For tommorow you die!
Read the BT codex just now, no mention of them acknowledging the Emperor as greatest man or Dorn as second greatest. I know this debate has been going on for ages on a lot of forums and it always ends up the same. Agree to disagree. I would personally favour the notion that BT's don't worship the Emperor as a god, but I am torn based on the content of their codex and books. Either way, the Emperor is awesome and so are the Black Templars. So, there's that.
