46. On the plurality of wives among Mohammedans

I spoke with Mohammedans about spiritual marriage, saying that it is a marriage of good and truth; that good loves truth and truth good like a married couple; and that these wish to be joined and bring forth goods and truths like daughters and sons, and as it were to procreate families. They understood this well, as also that conjugial love comes down from that spiritual origin, and that everything spiritual in man undergoes a change, so that it is scarcely recognisable, when it comes down to the natural; it can only be recognised by correspondences. From these facts it is plain that they, having several wives allowed by their religion, cannot have truly conjugial love. It was said that they are allowed several wives, that is, polygamy is permitted, because they live in hot climates and therefore are more heated with lust than those who live in cold climates. ¹ Therefore if they were not permitted polygamy, more of them would rush into adultery than would Europeans, and thus act contrary to their religious tenets; and to act contrary to one's religious tenets is to profane what is sacred. It was shown further that all their love of marriage is lascivious, and so not spiritual; nor can it become spiritual unless they acknowledge the Lord.

V:

20. To the seven churches, signifies to all who are in truths from good or in faith from charity. This is evident from the signification of "seven," as being all [persons]. For "seven," in the Word, signifies the beginning and end, thus an entire period and a full state, in like manner as a "week" (Arcana Coelestia 728, 6508, 9228); and because "seven" signifies what is full, it also signifies all, since all constitutes what is full, for fullness, as regards those that constitute a society (here, the church), means all; therefore when magnitude is treated of in the Word, "seven" signifies what is full; but when multitude is treated of, "seven" signifies all. "Three" also in the Word signifies what is full and all (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2788[1-13], 4495, 7715); but "seven" is used in the Word where anything holy is treated of, and "three" in all other cases (Arcana Coelestia 10127); therefore "seven" is here used, because truths from good, which are the holy things of the church, are treated of. It is also evident from the signification of "churches" as being those who are in truths from good, or in faith from charity.

These are meant by "churches," because such truths constitute the church with everyone; for those who are not in truths from good, though born within the church, yet are not of the church, because there is no church in them. From this it is that the Lord's church consists of all those, wheresoever they are, who are a church, that is, who are in truths from good. (That the church, like heaven, is in man, and not outside of him, consequently that man who is in truths from good is a church, see Arcana Coelestia 3884; and in the work on Heaven and Hell 53, 54, 57.)

It is also said, who are in faith from charity, since this is similar; for truth is of faith, and good is of charity; for in fact, everything that man believes is called truth, and everything that man loves is called good.

(That every truth is from good, and that everything of faith is from charity, see in the small work, The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 84-107, 108-122; and Last Judgement (n. 33-39; also Heaven and Hell 364, 424, 482, 526.)

He who knows nothing of the internal sense of the Word, when he reads these things believes no otherwise than that by "seven churches" are meant the seven churches afterwards named (verse 1:11); whereas churches are not meant, but all who are of the church; because this is the spiritual sense of the Word.