In the case of those who throw the holy things of the church behind them, from the face to the back of the head, or from the chest to the back, no good love can exist. Though there may look from the body's point of view to be some, still in spirit there is none. In such cases instances of good are placed on the outside of evils, and conceal them as a robe glittering with gold does a rotten body.

The evils which are lodged within and concealed are hatreds in general, and the internal conflicts directed against everything spiritual. For all the matters relating to the church, which they reject, are essentially spiritual. Since, as was shown above [65], truly conjugial love is the foundation of all spiritual loves, it is plain that the hatred felt deep within is directed against it, and the deeply felt or peculiar love these people feel is in favour of its opposite, adultery. These people therefore will, more than others, make fun of this truth, that each has conjugial love in accordance with the state of the church with him. In fact, they may perhaps roar with laughter at the very mention of truly conjugial love. Never mind if this happens. Yet they are to be forgiven, because they find it as impossible to think of embraces in marriage as any different from those in wantonness, as it is to push a camel through the eye of a sewing needle. Those who are like this feel coldness in conjugial love more acutely than others. If they stay with their partners, they do so merely for some of the outward reasons listed above (153), which hold them together and make a bond. In their case the inner levels of the soul, and so of the mind, are more and more shut off and dammed in the body; then even sexual love is cheapened or leads to mad wantonness in the inner levels of the body, from where it spreads to the lowest levels of thought. For these are the people meant in the experience related in 79, which they should please read.