{"id":70699,"date":"2019-02-22T14:11:54","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T21:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=70699"},"modified":"2019-02-22T14:20:24","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T21:20:24","slug":"assessing-the-criticisms-of-early-age-latter-day-saint-marriages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/02\/assessing-the-criticisms-of-early-age-latter-day-saint-marriages.html","title":{"rendered":"“Assessing the Criticisms of Early-Age Latter-Day Saint Marriages”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Distant<\/a>
The rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple stands on the site where the first one was built in the late 1830s and early 1840s.
(Photo from LDS.org.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em><\/a> enters into an area where controversy is conceivable:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAssessing the Criticisms of Early-Age Latter-Day Saint Marriages\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0Critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> have accused Joseph\u00a0Smith 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.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The publication of Craig Foster\u2019s article falls on the 344th consecutive Friday on which at least one article has appeared in Interpreter<\/em>. \u00a0The Interpreter Foundation<\/a> was launched just slightly more than 345 weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also from the Interpreter Foundation<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interpreter Radio Show \u2014 17 February 2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this episode, Bruce Webster and Kris Frederickson discussed on\u00a0Come, Follow Me<\/em>\u00a0lesson 7, covering Matthew 5 and Luke 6.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also from the Interpreter Foundation<\/a>, a somewhat different form of the above:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Audio Roundtable:\u00a0Come, Follow Me<\/em>\u00a0New Testament Lesson 8\u00a0\u201cBlessed Are Ye\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Matthew 5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is an Interpreter Radio (audio) Roundtable for\u00a0Come, Follow Me<\/em>\u00a0New Testament Lesson 8,\u00a0\u201cBlessed Are Ye,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>which covers both Matthew 5 and Luke 6. This specific roundtable, however, discusses Matthew chapter 5, while the Luke 6 discussion may be found at<\/p>\n

https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/cfm-audio-roundtable-come-follow-me-new-testament-lesson-8-luke-6<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was extracted from the 17 February 2019 broadcast of Interpreter Radio and features\u00a0Bruce Webster and Kris Fredrickson. \u00a0The complete show may be heard at<\/p>\n

https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreter-radio-show-february-17-2019\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also from the Interpreter Foundation, in a variant form:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Audio Roundtable:\u00a0Come, Follow Me<\/em>\u00a0New Testament Lesson 8\u00a0\u201cBlessed Are Ye\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Luke 6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is an Interpreter Radio (audio) Roundtable for\u00a0Come, Follow Me<\/em>\u00a0New Testament Lesson 8,\u00a0\u201cBlessed Are Ye,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>which covers both Matthew 5 and Luke 6. This specific roundtable, however, discusses Luke chapter 6, while the Matthew 5 discussion may be found at<\/p>\n

https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/cfm-audio-roundtable-come-follow-me-new-testament-lesson-8-matthew-5<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was was extracted from the 17 February 2019 broadcast of Interpreter Radio and features\u00a0Bruce Webster and Kris Fredrickson. \u00a0The complete show may be heard at<\/p>\n

https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreter-radio-show-february-17-2019\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And please don\u2019t forget about our film project:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Witnesses<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The items above remind me of the\u00a0confident prophecy issued slightly more than\u00a0five years ago now by a pseudonymous critic on a small, extraordinarily\u00a0nasty, and mostly atheist ex-Mormon message board:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy Jan. 1, 2014 Interpreter will be dead.\u00a0. .\u00a0. \u00a0Either totally dead or down to token \u2018blog\u2019 style postings.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0(Bond James Bond, 25 January 2013)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

His prediction appears to have been mistaken. \u00a0And, in fact, he himself seems to have disappeared in the meantime.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship enters into an area where controversy is conceivable: \u00a0 \u201cAssessing the Criticisms of Early-Age Latter-Day Saint Marriages\u201d \u00a0 Abstract:\u00a0Critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have accused Joseph\u00a0Smith and other early Latter-day Saint men of pedophilia because they married teenaged women. 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