Shining Star — Stephan Michael Loy

We killed Earth. Thousands of years later, the survivors, having fled their dead planet in great generation ships, eke out a tenuous existence among the local group of stars. This could have been the end for the last dregs of humanity, but for the rise of a dictatorial theocracy that draws humankind under its wing and flogs it to prosperity. The new faith is mother, it is father and mentor to a star-spanning species, but it is also built on lies. Now, four heretics seek to throw off the shackles of the false church by finding the original Word of God. In their quest, they find not only the truth of words, but soul-changing truths of who they really are.