Emanation

Emanation, in Theology and Philosophy, is an important word in various systems which considered all things as emanating or flowing from a Supreme Principle. According to these, the origin of things is only an overflowing of the divine fullness—an outstreaming of the light from the necessity of its nature, and not any conscious exercise of will on the part of God. What is thus given off as a copy from original perfection departs more and more from its source, and gradually degenerates, which was thought to account for the origin of evil. This doctrine pervades ancient Egyptian and Indian mythology, Neoplatonism (q.v.), and Christian Gnosticism (q.v.).