ABSTRACT
Religion is a system of meaning whose belief and practices represent and explain the nature of the universe and provide its followers with the means to construct a satisfying identity based upon that representation. A narrow reading of Durkheim's thesis can overlook the nature of the collective whose solidarity and primacy rituals assert, fail to address the nature of belief and, by placing the collective before the individual, ignore questions of personhood. The church teaches that all who repent and are converted should be baptized as soon as possible by full water immersion. The paramount expression of the moral efficacy of religious rites to cleanse, re-establish and maintain communication between man and God is the concept of the baptism by the Holy Spirit. Members make a conceptual distinction between ‘sanctification’ and baptism by the Holy Spirit. The metaphors used to describe baptism by the Holy Spirit are those which apply to a vessel: ‘in-filling’ and ‘outpouring.’.
