“Upon the Rock of Our Redeemer”

Brant Gardner

Reference: This reference to the foundation of buildings is not out of place in Mesoamerica. However, Joseph Smith clearly used a New Testament passage as his translation model for the similar concepts:

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matt. 7:24–27)

Building “upon the rock of our Redeemer” also evokes Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This allusion, however, is probably no more than a coincidence, since the context of the building suggests so much more strongly that Matthew 7 served as Joseph’s literary model.

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 5

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