معرفت ادیان

The doctrine of fayd (emanation) serves as a joint point between the fundamental concepts of Christianity. Paul was the first one who assigned a theological meaning to this term. He believed that emanation is the main factor of salvation. It can be understood from all Paul's words that emanation is a testimony to God's gracious act which freely offers salvation to those who do not deserve it. After Paul, Church fathers developed this concept. Among the church fathers, Augustine has such a most substantial role in the development of the idea of fayd (emanation) that he is known as the theorist of "emanation". His debates with the opponents of common understanding of emanation are considered as the most important debates in the history of church. Catholic understanding of emanation was almost established after Augustine. Catholic Church regards the opponents of Augustine's view as heretic. The present paper takes a probing look at the process of the development of this concept from the Old Testament to the time of Augustine and also at some of his debates with his contemporaries.