Quote:

I have a pin right here, where do I look to see the angels on it? Are they hiding in the back of it?

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Well Lightningfractal, I'll try to answer your question the best I can. You see, Aquinas devoted fourteen books of the Summa theologiae to the nature and powers of angels. He held that angels have form but not matter, and are therefore eternal and incorruptible. Angels are able to assume bodies; these bodies take up space, so only one angle can be in a particular place at a certain time. In contrast, Duns Scotus asserted that angels consist of both form and a noncorporeal matter particular to them alone, which makes it possible for more than one angle to occupy the same place at the same time (De Anima, XV; De rerum principio, VII-VIII). The ensuing debates over these positions may have given rise to the early modern legend that the Scholastics argued over such questions as how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Okay I admit it I cheated. Those aren't my own words. I got them from here: http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/grow.html