Increasingly addressing the religious dimension of Cormac McCarthy’s work, critics have frequently rooted it in a Gnosticism which holds, first, that the world is a place of evil and suffering and, second, that salvation is attained through knowledge made available only to the elect. The Stonemason, however, seems intent on refuting just such a thesis. Focusing on Ben and his grandfather Papaw, a centenarian stonemason, the play presents Ben as seeking, through mastery of the mason’s secrets, to become custodian to knowledge that will unlock the mysteries not just of a trade but of the cosmos. Yet this Gnostic quest fosters in him a moral negligence that leads to the deaths of two family members. Indeed, Ben’s tragedy stems precisely from his Gnostic prizing of secret lore and indifference to the Christian lessons Papaw himself most values—lessons not in god-like knowledge but in the practice of faith, humility, and love.

评论家越来越多地着眼于科马克·麦卡锡著作的宗教方面，批评家将其根植于诺斯替教派，首先，它认为世界是一个充满邪恶和痛苦的地方，其次，通过只有选民才能获得的知识才能达到救赎的目的。石匠但是，似乎有意反驳这样的论点。该剧着眼于本和他的百岁石匠祖父帕帕（Papaw），这本剧使本本试图通过掌握泥瓦匠的秘密，寻求成为知识的保管人，这些知识不仅会揭开交易的神秘面，而且会揭开宇宙的神秘面纱。然而，这个诺斯替人的追求使他养成了道德上的疏忽，导致两名家庭成员死亡。的确，本的悲剧恰好源于他诺斯替人对秘密知识的冷嘲热讽和对帕帕自己本人最看重的基督教课程的冷漠-这些课程不是关于上帝的知识，而是关于信仰，谦卑和爱的实践。