Yahoo – AFP,
12 Nov 2014
 |
People walk
past the Salt Lake Temple of the Mormon church on April 5,
2014 in Salt Lake
City, Utah (AFP Photo/George Frey)
|
Washington
(AFP) - The founder of Mormonism, which for decades allowed polygamy, had as
many as 40 wives including one who was only 14, the US-based church has
acknowledged.
Joseph
Smith (1805-1844), founded the Church of the Latter-day Saints, Mormonism's
formal name, and is regarded by followers as a prophet.
The Mormon
church said in an online essay last month that Smith is estimated to have had
between 30 and 40 wives, some of whom were already married.
 |
A statue in
Salt Lake City, Utah of the founder of
the Mormon Church Joseph Smith (1805-1844),
who founded the Church of the Latter-day Saints,
Mormonism's formal name, and
is regarded by
followers as a prophet (AFP Photo/George Frey)
|
The Mormon
essay said the oldest of the women "sealed" to Smith was 56, and the
youngest was 14.
"Marriage
at such an age, inappropriate by today's standards, was legal in that era, and
some women married in their mid-teens," the Mormon essay states.
According
to the essay, "an angel appeared to (Smith) three times between 1834 and
1842 and commanded him to proceed with plural marriage when he hesitated to
move forward."
During the
third visit, the angel supposedly threatened to kill Smith with a sword unless
Smith obeyed the commandment.
The Times
said Smith has long been portrayed by the church as a loyal partner to his
first wife, Emma.
An official
Mormon website says that today, "the practice of polygamy is strictly
prohibited ... as it has been for over a century."
But
polygamy was part of the church's teachings for 50 years during the religion's
early days.
"Much
of what you'll find in the essays on polygamy has been published in diverse
sources and known among long-term and well-read members, historians and Church
leaders for many years," Mormon spokesman Eric Hawkins told AFP.
"The
Church has now gathered this information into a single location as a convenient
means of placing these resources in the hands of all members."
The Mormon
church has written several essays in recent months addressing contentious
topics, including a ban on black people from becoming priests that was only
lifted in 1978.
The Mormon
church claims 15 million members worldwide, including six million in the United
States.
The faith
is also known internationally for its practice of sending young missionaries
around the world.
In 1820, a
14-year-old Smith claimed he'd had a vision of God, while living in western New
York state. The event went on to be seen as a founding moment in the history of
Mormonism.
Facing
persecution, Mormons moving westward eventually sought refuge in what is now
Utah, making Salt Lake City their "capital." Followers of the faith
are to this day concentrated in this western part of the United States.
Smith was
killed by an angry crowd while in prison.
The essay
on "plural marriage" can be viewed at:
https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo
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