Keywords
criticism, Latter-day Saint marriages, married teens
Abstract
Critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have accused Joseph Smith and other early Latter-day Saint men of pedophilia because they married teenaged women. Indeed, they have emphatically declared that such marriages were against 19th-century societal norms. However, historians and other experts have repeatedly stated that young people married throughout the 19th-century, and such marriages have been relatively common throughout all of US history. This article examines some of the accusations of early Latter-day Saint pedophilia and places such marriages within the greater historical and social context, illustrating that such marriages were normal and acceptable for their time and place.
Recommended Citation
Foster, Craig L.
(2019)
"Assessing the Criticisms of Early-Age Latter-Day Saint Marriages,"
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Vol. 31, Article 12.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/interpreter/vol31/iss1/12
