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.

Footnotes:

2318. 'The two angels came to Sodom in the evening' means the visitation which takes place prior to judgement. This becomes clear from the statements made by the three men, that is, by Jehovah, in the previous chapter, also from what follows in the present chapter, as well as from the meaning of 'the evening'. In the previous chapter Jehovah said, 'I will go down and I will see whether the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah have done altogether according to the cry which has come to Me; and if not, I will know', verses 20-21. At that point it was shown that those words meant the visitation that takes place prior to judgement. In the present chapter the actual process of visitation is described and after that judgement, as is evident from what follows. That 'evening' means the time when visitation takes place will be seen below. As for what visitation is and the fact that visitation takes place prior to judgement, see 2242. In the previous chapter the subject was the corrupt state of the human race and the Lord's grief and intercession on behalf of those who are immersed in evil and yet with whom some good and truth exist. The present chapter therefore goes on to deal with the salvation of those with whom some good and truth exist, it being these who are represented in this chapter by Lot. At the same time it deals with the destruction of those who are immersed completely in evil and falsity, it being these who are meant here by Sodom and Gomorrah.