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The Second “Half?” of the book Marriage (“Conjugial”) Love
By Kurt Simons | April 25, 2010
In referring to what is packaged as the second part of the book Wisdom’s Delight in Marriage (“Conjugial”) Love: Followed by Insanity’s Pleasure in Promiscuous Love it is often said to be the “second half” of that work. This is a considerable exaggeration. In a recent edition of the book the “Delight” section is 407 pages long, and the “Insanity” section 108 pages – just 21% of the book’s total.
Topics: Issues | 9 Comments »
May 6th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Dear Mr. Simons: I am wondering if you have any research on re-marriage within the New Church? I was brought up with simliar notions of C.L. … and I have begun to believe that it was not divinely inspired but is still one of “bull” bastions of the NC. Cheers. Michael.
May 11th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Hi Michael,
On the second marriage issue – My suggestion would be to see the chapter on “Marriage (“Conjugial”) Love” on that subject (starts at #317 http://smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=ml§ion=317 ), which covers a lot of territory in a short space. Beyond that, I am not aware of any good studies of the matter. (If pertinent, the chapter on colds. separation and divorce (Marriage Love #243) might also be helpful.)
As far as your comment about the teachings on marriage being “bull,” well, that’s a question of personal faith. I have not studied this matter at length directly. However, I have taken a closer look at the underlying issue of what defines any book of Swedenborg’s as authoritative revelation.
I think a strong case can be made that the books that are the authoritative revelation of the Second Coming are the ones that Swedenborg published himself (see “Which of Swedenborg’s books are Divine revelation?” http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/books.html for details.)
Since Marriage Love is among the published works, that would argue that it is in fact authoritative revelation. To me this conclusion is still further strengthened by the teachings about marriage love that appear elsewhere in the authoritative works (e.g. Arcana Coelestia 3021, 3942 or the direct copy of sections of Marriage Love (e.g. Marriage Love 2ff. copied in True Christian Religion 731, and Marriage Love 11 copied in True Christian Religion 740).
May 24th, 2010 at 2:54 am
Marriage is one of the most sacred ceremonies that we humans experience. Being married also gives us happines.–,
June 11th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Dear Mr. Simons: Yes, that is exactly how I was brought up. However, even as young men in a NC school, my cousins and male friends never believed that CL was inspired but rather written for the “time” of Swedenborg. Only one out of my age group from that society is still in the NC. I do believe in the idea of conjugial love but not the book. When I was doing the film “Swedenborg: Mystical Cowboy” I came in contact with a lot of NC and Convention ministers. The topic of divinely inspired writings came up several times over the span of 18 months. I have read several articles on what is and what is not inspired and am still searching. Perhaps someone in the Church should do a scholarly paper from BOTH sides of the remarriage issue to act as a bit of a catalyst for discussion. The discussion is out there but it seems the priesthood of the NC is not listening. Cheers. Michael.
June 11th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
Hi Michael,
As noted above, my thought is that the books of Swedenborg’s that are fully Divinely inspired are those he published himself, and that Marriage Love (CL) is one of those books.
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:52 pm
You could certainly see your skills in the work you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. Always go after your heart.
September 28th, 2011 at 11:45 pm
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say excellent blog!
September 29th, 2011 at 6:26 am
Weathervane: Sorry to lose what I’m sure were some stimulating thoughts! After having had some of that problem myself, I now write anything long as a Word file and then copy and paste. Takes a few more clicks but worth it.
October 18th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
an interesting read concerning sex, love, and marriage-in their deepest sense:
The Sexes Here and Hereafter By William Henry Holcombe
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AKK5035.0001.001/8?rgn=full+text;view=image