As we face temptation, in the struggle between our desire to be good and our lust for evil, the next step is to try to mollify our evil desires, to sort of convince ourselves that being good will be just as much fun as being bad, that we can turn away from evil acts, do what’s right and be happy without really changing.

That’s illustrated here as Lot (representing those in the Ancient Church who are still good) offers the men of Sodom (the evil people of the Ancient Church) his virgin daughters (affections for what is truen and for doing what is good, which have not been defiled by falsity) as something that will bring them a state of blessedness if they will stop trying to attack the idea of the Lord, represented by the two visiting angels. The idea is that they could get just as much delight from being good as they could from being evil.

This meaning is, of course, pretty deep under the surface of a story which is pretty horrifying on its outer face. In a way, casting the rape of the daughters as a good thing shows just how twisted our logic gets when we’re trying to cling to our evils in a state of temptation.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 2361)