Practicality

In Joseph Smith — Rough Stone Rolling, practicality is tagged against Joseph Smith’s hands-on approach to organization-building — specifically his concern with “developing the Twelve into an effective working unit.” Rather than dwelling on doctrine alone, Smith focused on the operational and relational mechanics of holding a leadership body together: he “cautioned them to forgive one another and be merciful,” and not to “seek to ‘excell one above another but act for each others good & honorably make mention of each others name in our prayers.’”

The tag marks a thread in Bushman’s biography of Smith as a builder attentive to the practical work of forging a functioning institution, not just a visionary.

Where this appears

• Joseph Smith — Rough Stone Rolling — Smith’s practical focus on forging the Twelve into an effective working unit through mutual forbearance