On Joseph Smith’s claim to be a “rough stone rolling” and how it differs from the Freemasonic usage of the concept:
There is an important
difference between this Masonic imagery and Joseph Smith’s version of the
thought. The Prophet avers that his polishing was not so much the result of
efforts at self-improvement as it was of “the learning & wisdom of heaven.”
This is consistent with the biblical ethos of Exodus 20:25: “And if thou wilt
make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou
lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.” The imagery is also reflected
in Daniel’s interpretation of the vision of the stone that was “cut out of the
mountain without hands” (that is, cut out through the power of God
rather than merely by the efforts of humankind). Recall, in addition, the
prophecy by Jesus that contrasted the “temple that is made with hands”
(i.e., Herod’s temple) to the temple that would be made “within three days . .
. without hands” (i.e., Jesus’s resurrected body).
We might further ask why one
want to polish stones for building purposes before they are brought out
of the mountain quarries and onto the construction site? An answer is provided
in the description of how such stones were to be prepared for use in Solomon’s
temple— eliminating the sound of on-site stone-shaping contributed to the reverent
atmosphere that should be maintained in the temple:
And the house, when it was
in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so
that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house,
while it was in building. (Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “Understanding the Doctrine of
Election: A Closer Look at the Prophet’s 21 May 1843 Discourse on the ‘More
Sure Word of Prophecy’,” in Joseph Smith: A Life Lived in Crescendo, ed.
Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, 2 vols. [Orem, Utah: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake
City: Eborn Books, 2024], 1:170)
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