Mormon Church Founder Joseph Smith Had 40 Wives; Members Shocked

Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, had been portrayed in contemporary times by leaders as a prophet "happily married to one woman," CNN noted.

However, a series of essays released by church elders have revealed the real score regarding Smith's marriage history. It turns out that the controversial man "wed as many as 40 wives, including some who were already married and one as young as 14 years old."

This revelation has, understandably, prompted a slew of shocked reactions from church members.

"Joseph Smith was presented to me as a practically perfect prophet, and this is true for a lot of people," Emily Jensen was quoted by The New York Times as saying. She also said that the reactions of some Mormons were akin to the five stages of grief, where the first two stages are denial and anger.

A number of members have also been noted saying that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints "is not the church I grew up with, this is not the Joseph Smith I love," Jensen said.

"Smith probably did not have sexual relations with all of his wives, because some were 'sealed' to him only for the next life," the publication added. "But for his first wife, Emma, polygamy was 'an excruciating ordeal'."

The essay the church has released stated that Smith did not want to take on more wives, but was obliged to do so "after an angel appeared to him three times between 1834 and 1842" and threatened him with destruction unless he followed the command, CNN said.

Polygamy, also referred to as plural marriage among the Mormon faithful, had been practiced by members in the past. However, it was disavowed in 1890 after the LDS was pressured by the U.S. government to stop the practice.

"Twenty years ago, Mormons could be excommunicated for addressing controversial topics like polygamy and the church's former ban on black priests," the news source said. "But in recent years, with information about Smith's multiple marriages only a Google search away, Mormon church leaders felt pressure to answer questions from the faithful."

"Some Mormons had even left the church after discovering its polygamist past," CNN added.

"There is so much out there on the Internet that we felt we owed our members a safe place where they could go to get reliable, faith-promoting information that was true about some of these more difficult aspects of our history," Elder Steven E. Snow, the church historian and a member of the senior leadership of the Mormon church, told The New York Times.

"We need to be truthful, and we need to understand our history. I believe our history is full of stories of faith and devotion and sacrifice, but these people weren't perfect," he explained.

Columbia University professor Dr. Richard L. Bushman, also a Mormon, said that the revelation is "a recognition of maturity."

"There are lots of church leaders who say: 'We can take anything, just let us know how it really happened. We're a church that is secure'," he added.

University of Pennsylvania professor Sarah Barringer Gordon, who is not a Mormon, appears to agree. "What you want to do is get out ahead of the problem, and not have someone say, 'Look at this damaging thing I found that you were trying to keep secret'," she pointed out.