I've been under the impression for some time that there is a passage in the
works of St Thomas Aquinas discussing corporeality of angels which was
satirized later by someone in terms of angels dancing on the head of a pin.
And I find in *The Home Book of Quotations* compiled by Burton Stevens,
10th efition (1967):
"How many angels can dance on the point of a very fine needle without
jostling each other?
ISAAC D'ISRAELI, *Curiosities of Literature, Quodlibets*. Paraphrasing
an idea in St. Thomas Aquinas, *Summa*."
I suppose, though, Disraeli could have been passing on an older saying.
There is memory tickling me that Erasmus once wrote something along these
lines.
Gordon Fisher [log in to unmask]
At 10:09 AM 11/29/99 GMT, James R Ginther wrote:
>John:
>
>Can't you directly, but there is a wonderful article by R James Long
>in Franciscan Studies 54 (1998), entitled 'Of Angels and Pinheads',
>and it is about the treatment of angelic location and motion in 13th
>century english theological thought (mainly Richard Fishacre, who
>was almost as clever as Grosseteste :-]). I think Jim refers to
>some literature about the misconception in the opening sections.
>
>It is a great article, and a fantastic title (it has a more sober
>subtitle, but I can't be expected to remember the important stuff!).
>
>Cheers
>Jim
>
>
>=====================================================================
>
>Dr James R Ginther
>Dept. of Theology and Religious Studies
>University of Leeds
>Leeds LS2 9JT UK
>
>E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>Phone: +44.113.233.6749
>Fax: +44.113.233.3654
> -=*=-
>http://www.leeds.ac.uk/trs/
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>====================================================================
>"First up ther wor nobbut God. An 'e said, "Ee, lad, turn th'bloody
>light on." -Yorkshire paraphase of Gen. 1.2
>
>
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