DR APR-8

What do the angelic forces of the Heavenly Host have to do with orgasms? According to the 12th-century philosopher and theologian Maimonides, the answer was deceptively simple. Invisible forces responsible for various forms of movement, whether biological or cosmic, could be elucidated through the divine agency of angels. Citing a rabbinic authority who referenced ‘the angel put in charge of lust’, Maimonides remarked that what was intended was not metaphorical but mechanical: ‘the force of orgasm’. This force, he noted, was to be considered an angel itself. In a pre-Newtonian universe devoid of articulated theories of gravity, energy, or magnetism, the problem of causality in physical processes was often resolved by positing incorporeal intermediaries. Hence, angels provided a metaphysical scaffold for explaining motion, from planetary orbits to physiological phenomena.

Maimonides asserted that celestial bodies—planets and stars—were not merely passive entities in motion but angelic intelligences in themselves, actively fulfilling divine mandates. While the idea may elicit scoffing from modern physicists, it must be recognized that such metaphysical reasoning laid conceptual groundwork essential to the emergence of modern scientific inquiry. Even after belief in angels diminished, physics retained the habit of invoking non-material agents—such as Maxwell’s demon or Laplace’s demon—to grapple with paradoxes and unknown mechanisms. These so-called ‘demons of physics’, although fictional, served as useful mental constructs in navigating uncharted territories of thermodynamics and information theory.

Nevertheless, the most enduring contribution of medieval angelology lies not in its explanatory analogies, but in its facilitation of rigorous debate regarding ontology, spatiality, and motion. These metaphysical speculations evolved into the foundational categories underpinning modern physics. The discourse around angels fostered incisive thinking about location, corporeality, and the causal interplay between space and matter. Angels, conceptualized as immaterial yet localized intelligences, presented theological puzzles with profound philosophical ramifications. Theologians faced the question: if angels are bodiless and immaterial, in what sense can they be located? This was no trivial concern, for to claim that an angel could be everywhere was to approach a blasphemous equivalence with God’s omnipresence. Consequently, thinkers such as Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and St Bonaventure engaged in painstaking elaboration of the angelic mode of being.

Working within the framework of Aristotelian physics, where motion was attributed to intrinsic natures rather than external forces, these theologians posited that location must be redefined for incorporeal entities. Aristotle denied the existence of empty space and instead defined ‘place’ as the boundary of the surrounding body. Space, in this view, was neither homogeneous nor absolute, but an interdependent relation between body and boundary. Fire, for instance, was said to ascend because its nature was ‘upward’—a directional attribute embedded in its essence. The universe, with Earth at its center and the celestial spheres as its periphery, encoded spatial directionality as an ontological feature.

Within this paradigm, Aquinas advanced the idea that angels are ‘located’ not by spatial extension but by the exercise of their will upon material objects. That is, an angel occupies a place insofar as it acts upon that place. This functional localization circumvented the need for spatial embodiment while preserving metaphysical limitations essential to avoiding theological heresy. Yet, the strict Aristotelianism of this framework was not without critics. The claim that no body can exist without place seemed to curtail divine omnipotence; surely, it was argued, God could create an entity that did not occupy space. Thus, angelology became an intellectual proving ground where physics, metaphysics, and theology collided, catalyzing philosophical developments that would echo well into the modern era.

Word Count: 595
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 15

Glossary of Difficult Words:

  • Elucidated – Made clear; explained.

  • Metaphysical – Relating to abstract thought or subjects, such as existence or reality.

  • Causality – The relationship between cause and effect.

  • Incorporeal – Not composed of matter; having no physical body.

  • Ontology – The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being.

  • Ramifications – Consequences or outcomes that are complex or unwelcome.

  • Homogeneous – Of the same kind or nature.

  • Paradigm – A model or pattern for something that may be copied.

  • Ontological – Concerning the nature of being or existence.

  • Heretical – Holding beliefs that go against established religious doctrine.


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