Conjugial Love (Chadwick) n. 112

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112. Finally he took up the ninth paper, from which he read as follows.

'We, the representatives in our committee, have submitted to our judgment the two subjects set before us, the source of conjugial love and the source of its strength or potency. When we engaged in subtle discussions about the source of conjugial love, to avoid obscurity in our reasoning we made a distinction between spiritual, natural and carnal sexual love. By spiritual sexual love we mean truly conjugial love, since this is spiritual. By natural sexual love we mean polygamous love, since this is natural. And by wholly carnal sexual love we mean scortatory love, since this is wholly carnal. When we applied our most penetrating judgment to conjugial love, we realised that this is only possible between one male and one female, and it is from creation heavenly and inmost, the soul and father of all good loves; it was breathed into our first forefathers, and can be breathed into Christians. Moreover, its uniting power is so great that it can make two minds into one, and two persons as it were one person; this is what is meant by their becoming one flesh. The Book of Creation shows plainly that this love was breathed in from creation:

And a man shall leave his father and mother, and cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Gen. 2:24.

It is clear that this love can be breathed into Christians from the following passage:

Jesus said, Have you not read that the Maker from the beginning made them male and female? Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two of them shall become one flesh; so henceforth they are two, not one flesh. Matt. 19:4-6.

This is said of the source of conjugial love.

'We suggest that the source of the strength or potency of truly conjugial love arises from similarity of minds and unanimity. For when two minds are joined in wedlock, these thoughts spiritually kiss each other, and there breathe into their bodies their strength or potency.' This paper was signed with the letter S.


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