Did Solomon's temple violate an earlier ban on cutting stone with iron tools?
An emailer notes altars were not to be hewn with iron tools, that Solomon had the temple stone cut at the quarry, and asks whether Solomon bypassed an older admonition about constructing a holy place, drawing a parallel to the Church's condemnation of Freemasonry.
Answer
I think you are making a mistake here, because there was no older admonition against building a place of worship. God did tell Solomon, why build me a temple when I inhabit the whole universe, but He then allowed and even backed the building of the temple, supplying timber through King Hiram and the Sidonian craftsmen. So you cannot say there was a taboo against making the temple, and that undercuts your whole thesis that there is some prohibition behind the cathedrals. What we do find in the Old and New Testaments is not a ban on building but the abuse of the temple, as when Jesus cast out the money changers because the temple was made for prayer, not business. And yes, people were sometimes intimidated by great cathedrals and were sold indulgences off that awe, but that is the abuse of the buildings, not proof that they should not have been built. So I think what you are really sensing is abuse of the temple, not that it could not be used.