371. IX. JEALOUSY WITH THOSE MARRIED PARTNERS WHO TENDERLY LOVE EACH
OTHER, IS A JUST GRIEF GROUNDED IN SOUND REASON LEST CONJUGIAL LOVE
SHOULD BE DIVIDED, AND SHOULD THEREBY PERISH. All love is attended with
fear and grief; fear lest it should perish, and grief in case it
perishes: it is the same with conjugial love; but the fear and grief
attending this love is called zeal or jealousy. The reason why this
zeal, with married partners who tenderly love each other, is just and
grounded in sound reason, is, because it is at the same time a fear for
the loss of eternal happiness, not only of its own but also of its
married partner's, and because also it is a defence against adultery. In
respect to the first consideration,--that it is a just fear for the loss
of its own eternal happiness and of that of its married partner, it
follows from every thing which has been heretofore adduced concerning
love truly conjugial; and also from this consideration, that married
partners derive from that love the blessedness of their souls, the
satisfaction of their minds, the delight of their bosoms, and the
pleasure of their bodies; and since these remain with them to eternity,
each party has a fear for eternal happiness.
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