484. IV. THAT TRIPLE ADULTERY IS WITH BLOOD RELATIONS. This adultery is called triple because it is threefold more grievous than the two former. The blood relations or remainders of flesh* who are not to be approached may be seen listed in Leviticus 18:6-17. The reasons why these adulteries are threefold more grievous than the two mentioned above are internal and external. The internal reasons are based on their correspondence with the violation of the spiritual marriage which is that of the Lord and the Church and thence of good and truth. The external reasons are [that the prohibited degrees were laid down] that they may be guards against man becoming a beast. But the present is not the place to proceed to the disclosure of these reasons.
* In Lev. 18:6, the translation "near of kin" is accompanied with the marginal note "the remainder of his flesh" which is the literal meaning of the Hebrew.
