93. Those who are spiritually adulterous are distinguished from those who are naturally adulterous. The latter, if they have taken pleasure in adulteries and no pleasure in marriages are shut out of heaven and are sent to hells. But the spiritually adulterous, although they feel there is nothing in adulteries which is not allowed, are all the same examined, and some are reformed; others are given places in accordance with their lives.

On a natural level, there are a variety of things that can cause shame. We might be ashamed of physical weakness or ugliness; we might be ashamed of a lack of education or a menial job; we might be ashamed of a dirty house or a misbehaving child. On a deeper level we would be ashamed to have people know our dark thoughts and unspoken desires. All of these have to do with our failings, our sense of not being good enough. And so it is in the Bible, where "shame" represents a knowledge and acknowledgement of our own evil, its hold on us and the delight we take in it.