Emanation (Eastern Orthodox Christianity)
Encyclopedia
Emanation is a belief, found in Neoplatonism
, that the cause of certain beings or states of being consists of an overflow from the essence of God
or other higher spiritual beings, as opposed to a special act of creation. This overflow is usually conceived in a non-temporal way as a permanent relationship of causation rather than as an event causing an entity to come into existence at a given point in time. The word "emanation" can refer either to the process of emanation or to the thing emanated.
Equivalent concepts are found in Gnosticism
and in Kabbalah
(Jewish mysticism). This article explores similar concepts in Eastern Orthodoxy
and Eastern Catholicism.
concept of emanation can be compared to the statements made by fourteenth-century Eastern Orthodox
theologian Gregory Palamas
. He drew a distinction between God's essence and energies, affirming that God was unknowable in His essence, but knowable in His energies.
Palamas never enumerated God's energies but described them as ways that God could act in the universe, and particularly on people, from the light shining from the face of Moses
after he descended from Mt. Sinai, to the light surrounding Moses, Elijah and Jesus
on Mt. Tabor during the transfiguration of Jesus. For Palamas, God's energies were not separate from God, but were God. However, the idea of energies was kept distinct from the idea of the three Persons of the Trinity
, the unity of the Three Persons of the Trinity being united by God's transcendent Essence.
The Kabbalistic
belief in ten successive emanations, known as sefirot, can be paralleled in the writings of Nikitas Stithatos:
This hierarchy constitutes a threefold structure, each level of which consists of three orders or ranks of celestial intelligences, giving a total of nine such interlocking and mutually participating orders. The function of the lowest of these orders, that of the angels, has two aspects. The first is to transmit the divine grace
and illumination, which it has received from God through the meditation of the orders about it, to the order below it, the human order, that taken as a whole thus represents the tenth order, the second is to convert the human intelligence, the "finest of all the offerings; that can be made by this human order, so that it mounts upward and stage by stage returns, again through the meditation of the celestial hierarchy, to a state of union with its divine source and in this way achieves Divinization. This double meditation descending and ascending, constitutes the cyclic movement...."
He further states in On Spiritual Knowledge, verse 99, that, "The nine heavenly powers sing hymns of praise that have a threefold structure...."
In Judaism, a similar hierarchy can be found in the entirely non-Kabbalistic system of Maimonides
, who posits ten ranks of angels (from the different Biblical terms for them), the lowest of which is Ishim, literally "men".
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
, that the cause of certain beings or states of being consists of an overflow from the essence of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
or other higher spiritual beings, as opposed to a special act of creation. This overflow is usually conceived in a non-temporal way as a permanent relationship of causation rather than as an event causing an entity to come into existence at a given point in time. The word "emanation" can refer either to the process of emanation or to the thing emanated.
Equivalent concepts are found in Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
and in Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
(Jewish mysticism). This article explores similar concepts in Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and Eastern Catholicism.
Concepts
The NeoplatonicNeoplatonism
Neoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
concept of emanation can be compared to the statements made by fourteenth-century Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
theologian Gregory Palamas
Gregory Palamas
Gregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, his followers as Palamites...
. He drew a distinction between God's essence and energies, affirming that God was unknowable in His essence, but knowable in His energies.
Palamas never enumerated God's energies but described them as ways that God could act in the universe, and particularly on people, from the light shining from the face of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
after he descended from Mt. Sinai, to the light surrounding Moses, Elijah and Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
on Mt. Tabor during the transfiguration of Jesus. For Palamas, God's energies were not separate from God, but were God. However, the idea of energies was kept distinct from the idea of the three Persons of the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, the unity of the Three Persons of the Trinity being united by God's transcendent Essence.
The Kabbalistic
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
belief in ten successive emanations, known as sefirot, can be paralleled in the writings of Nikitas Stithatos:
- Nikitas StithatosNikitas StithatosNiketas Stethatos was a Byzantine mystic and theologian, and a critic of some Armenian and Latin customs. He is considered a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church.-Hesychast controversy:...
' decad has affinities with the decads of both the foregoing theories (kabbalistic and pythagorean decads), although it cannot be identified with either. It has roots in the conception of the celestial hierarchy or concatenation formulated by St Dionysios the Areopagite.
This hierarchy constitutes a threefold structure, each level of which consists of three orders or ranks of celestial intelligences, giving a total of nine such interlocking and mutually participating orders. The function of the lowest of these orders, that of the angels, has two aspects. The first is to transmit the divine grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
and illumination, which it has received from God through the meditation of the orders about it, to the order below it, the human order, that taken as a whole thus represents the tenth order, the second is to convert the human intelligence, the "finest of all the offerings; that can be made by this human order, so that it mounts upward and stage by stage returns, again through the meditation of the celestial hierarchy, to a state of union with its divine source and in this way achieves Divinization. This double meditation descending and ascending, constitutes the cyclic movement...."
He further states in On Spiritual Knowledge, verse 99, that, "The nine heavenly powers sing hymns of praise that have a threefold structure...."
- The Highest Rank: Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim.
- The Middle Rank: Authorities, Dominions and Powers.
- The Lowest Rank: Principalities, Archangels and Angels.
- Humanity is the last component to complete the Decad.
In Judaism, a similar hierarchy can be found in the entirely non-Kabbalistic system of Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
, who posits ten ranks of angels (from the different Biblical terms for them), the lowest of which is Ishim, literally "men".