Helen Mar Kimball

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The circumstances of Helen Mar Kimball's marriage to Joseph Smith, Jr.

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• Question: Was Joseph Smith's marriage to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball indicative of "pedophilia"?

The Prophet said...that it [plural marriage] would damn more than it would have because \so many/ unprincipled men would take advantage of it, but that did not prove that it was not a pure principle. If Joseph had had any impure desires he could have gratified them in the style of the world with less danger of his life or his character, than to do as he did. The Lord commanded him to teach & to practice that principle.

—Helen Mar Kimball Whitney, Letter to Mary Bond, n.d., 3-9 quoted in Brian Hales, Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History, Vol. 1, 26-27. off-site

1. REDIRECTHelen Mar Kimball#Was Joseph Smith a "serial practitioner of statutory rape?"

The circumstances of Helen Mar Kimball's marriage to Joseph Smith, Jr.

Jump to details:

• Question: Was Joseph Smith's marriage to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball indicative of "pedophilia"?

The circumstances of Helen Mar Kimball's marriage to Joseph Smith, Jr.

Jump to details:

• Question: Was Joseph Smith's marriage to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball indicative of "pedophilia"?

The circumstances of Helen Mar Kimball's marriage to Joseph Smith, Jr.

Jump to details:

• Question: Was Joseph Smith's marriage to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball indicative of "pedophilia"?

The circumstances of Helen Mar Kimball's marriage to Joseph Smith, Jr.

Jump to details:

• Question: Was Joseph Smith's marriage to 14-year-old Helen Mar Kimball indicative of "pedophilia"?

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]

Notes