216 HEAVEN and HELL §378
e. Marriages between people of divergent religions are not permitted because there is no union of
like good and truth on the inner levels: 8998.
f. Since husband and wife are to be one and are to live together at the very deepest level of life,
and since the two together make one angel in heaven, genuine marriage love cannot exist between
one husband and more than one wife: 1907 , 2740. Taking more than one wife at the same time is
contrary to the divine design: 10835 [ 10837 ]. It is clearly perceived by people in the Lord’s heav-
enly kingdom that there is no marriage except between one husband and one wife: 865 , 3246 ,
9902 [ 9002 ], 10172 ; because angels there are in a marriage of what is good and what is true: 3246.
The Israelites were allowed to take more than one wife and to take concubines in addition to
their wives, but this is not allowable for Christians. This is because the former nation was focused
on outward things apart from deeper ones, while Christians can be intent on deeper ones and
therefore on the marriage of what is good and what is true: 3246 , 4837 , 8809.other, and two unlike and discordant entities cannot make one mind out
of two. This means that the source of their love has nothing spiritual in
it. If they do live together in harmony, it is strictly for natural reasons.e
For this reason, marriages in the heavens are contracted with people
within their own community because they are focused on similar kinds
of good and truth, and they do not associate with people outside their
community. It may be seen in §§ 41 – 45 above that all the people who are
within a given community are focused on similar good and truth, and
that they differ from people who are outside the community. This was
also represented in the Israelite nation by the fact that they contracted
marriages within their tribes and even within their clans, and not out-
side them.379 Genuine marriage love is not possible between one husband and
more than one wife. Polygamy in fact destroys the spiritual source of mar-
riage love, whose purpose is to form one mind out of two. It therefore
destroys the deeper union of the good and the true that is the very essence
of that love. Marriage with more than one is like an intellect divided
among more than one will or like a person pledged to more than one
church. This actually pulls faith apart so that it becomes no faith at all.
Angels say that taking more than one wife is absolutely contrary to
the divine design and that they know this for many reasons, including
the fact that the moment they think about marriage with more than one,
they are estranged from their inner blessedness and heavenly happiness.
They become virtually drunk because the good is severed from the true
within them; and since the deeper levels of their minds come into this
kind of state when they simply think about this with some slight intent,
they perceive clearly that marriage with more than one woman closes
their own inner nature and makes lust invade where there should be mar-
riage love. Lust leads away from heaven.f