Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This, and other purely speculative questions that are impossible to answer because they are not rooted in anything tangible or real in any objective, measurable way, have always puzzled me.
I was just reading through the threads and absorbing the disputes over doctrine and purely metaphysical matters. I am baffled by how absorbed people can become in these kinds of discussions.
I believe it concerned the nature of matter and the nature of angels. Would angels have matter? And if they had matter wouldn't they have a size?
Although it might seem silly to us some things like this were a sign Christians were starting to think about logic puzzles more. And this one I think in a weird way relates to the modern world. Like "how many bytes of information can you store on something the size of a head of a pin" or "how far can we go with miniaturization." Current science indicates the "Planck Length" is the smallest small can get. This likely limits how far miniaturization can go, but we're nowhere nearing worrying about that so far as I know.
That being said I think "angels on the head of a pin" thing was more of a parody of the minutiae some scholastic theologians dealt with than an actual issue of great concern. I remember Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Street stating that Hell would have no humidity because Hell is described as not having any water. I hadn't really thought of that, but it made sense. Scholastics thinking of such things might strike us as silly, but in some ways it led to the Renaissance.
I believe it concerned the nature of matter and the nature of angels. Would angels have matter? And if they had matter wouldn't they have a size?
Although it might seem silly to us some things like this were a sign Christians were starting to think about logic puzzles more. And this one I think in a weird way relates to the modern world. Like "how many bytes of information can you store on something the size of a head of a pin" or "how far can we go with miniaturization." Current science indicates the "Planck Length" is the smallest small can get. This likely limits how far miniaturization can go, but we're nowhere nearing worrying about that so far as I know.
That being said I think "angels on the head of a pin" thing was more of a parody of the minutiae some scholastic theologians dealt with than an actual issue of great concern. I remember Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Street stating that Hell would have no humidity because Hell is described as not having any water. I hadn't really thought of that, but it made sense. Scholastics thinking of such things might strike us as silly, but in some ways it led to the Renaissance.
This response is more thoughtful than the thread probably deserves.
Indeed. I seem to recall that no -one actually ever asked that question...I'll look it up..
"Now to your question. D'Israeli writes, "The reader desirous of being merry with Aquinas's angels may find them in Martinus Scriblerus, in Ch. VII who inquires if angels pass from one extreme to another without going through the middle? And if angels know things more clearly in a morning? How many angels can dance on the point of a very fine needle, without jostling one another?"
Martinus Scriblerus ("Martin the Scribbler") was a pseudonym adopted by the 18th-century wits Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Thomas Parnell, and John Arbuthnot, who collaborated on a satirical work entitled Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus, published in 1741..." (undelining mine)
It was a spoof remark by Isaac, father of Benjamin D'Israeli ,tending to mock the complexities of medieval Theologians.
Nevertheless, the OP makes a valid point. Why do we spend so much time debating intricacies of a belief system?
The theist answer is...well, they'd better say why themselves. I suspect because it's all about proving which religion, denomination and subset of denomination is the right one, because getting into heaven or not may depend on wearing the right hat.
The short atheist answer is - because millions of people believe it and those who believe it want everyone else to believe it, too. Just ignoring it plays into their hands.
..... That being said I think "angels on the head of a pin" thing was more of a parody of the minutiae some scholastic theologians dealt with than an actual issue of great concern. I remember Frank Pembleton on Homicide: Life on the Street stating that Hell would have no humidity because Hell is described as not having any water. I hadn't really thought of that, but it made sense. Scholastics thinking of such things might strike us as silly, but in some ways it led to the Renaissance.
So, if "it's not the heat; it's the humidity" is a true adage, that statement changes everything. No?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This response is more thoughtful than the thread probably deserves.
