6051. ADULTERIES, THE LOVE OF RULING, DECEIT, ETC. It must be described how infernal are adulteries and the other sins, for instance, in this place, adulteries that is, believing that adulteries are allowable though there may, or may not, be adultery. Scarcely anyone, at this day, believes that they are so infernal, and that adulterers cannot possibly be saved. The reasons are: (1) Because heaven is marriage, and hell is adultery. (2) Because conjugial love descends from the marriage of good and truth, adultery from the marriage of evil and falsity. (3) Because from marriage, according to conjugial and infernal love, offspring is born. (4) That in heaven they abhor adulteries, and that therefore heaven is closed and hell opened widely [by them]. (5) That a man by conjugial love receives the form of love inwardly and outwardly, by adultery the form of hell; also, that heavenly love is implanted solely through conjugial love. (6) That conjugial love is the fundamental love of all loves for, when man becomes a form of love, he becomes an image of the Lord: otherwise, the reverse is the case. (7) That, therefore, the delights of conjugial love exceed all other delights, both in number and quality. (8) That heavenly joy is founded upon that love in heaven; so that as far as any one is in that, so far he is in heavenly joy of every kind and degree. (9) That by marriages, in the heavens, wisdom increases; which increase, there, is in the place of procreation. (10) That with preachers in hell, there is a doctrinal adultery, which differs from natural adultery - of which anon. (11) The reason why wisdom increases according to chastity, is because the origin thereof is the marriage of good and truth, and the marriage of the Lord with the Church. This is its cause wherefore, nobody who is an adulterer can be wise in spiritual things. Hence, so far as he is an adulterer, so far is he blind in spiritual things, and so far is inwardly a devil. (12) That, hence, to love the married partner, is to do good in the sight of the Lord for it is thus, from chastity, to love the Lord. This communicates with the heavens, and delights the souls of the angels to such an extent as cannot be believed. (13) There is also a certain kind of coition, which, when it proceeds from chastity, inasmuch as it is the effect of that love, delights heaven in the highest degree. On the contrary, it distresses them so far as it is from adultery. (14) Proofs may be brought forward, that adulterers, no matter how morally well they may have lived in other respects and have given themselves to prayers, are cast into hell. The members devoted to generation, in both sexes, correspond to the inmost or third heaven, where the angels are in the heavenly marriage, or that of good and truth, more than the rest. In a word, marriages in the heavens are most holy; wherefore, they must not be profaned by adulteries.