Emanation

(ēm-a-nā'shun.) (From L. e, out of, and mano, I flow.] (Phil. and Theol.) An ancient doctrine which considered all things as emanating or flowing from a Supreme principle-the origin of things being only an overflowing of the divine fulne , and not any free action on the part ofGod. This doctrine came from the East, and pervades the Indian mythology, the system of Zoroaster, and the Neo-Platonic philosophy of Alexandria. In Christian theology, the idea of E. has been applied to explain the relation among the persons of the Trinity. [s. 327]