The Holy Ghost in Latter-day Saint ritual experience

Pneumatology is not a word that is used within Mormon writings, but Mormon theology does elucidate a work of the Holy Ghost that is evident in the world and in the Church that can be explored. In examining a Latter-day Saint pneumatology one is faced with a paucity of specific material; with the exception of a small number of books the Holy Ghost has not been the subject of a systematic analysis. While being critically linked with other areas, the role of the Spirit in individual and institutional practice is an area which needs exploring in much greater depth than has been done previously. The extent to which the Holy Ghost has been ignored is exemplified in the writings of Davies; he argues that in certain aspects Mormonism can be seen to be distinctly binitarian concluding: …that, in the starkest and most unqualified of terms, the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit has been of primary historical significance within practical Mormon living but of secondary importance within its technical theology (2009: 38, see also Davies, 2010). This article will explore a small area of pneumatology and leave many areas that will need further exploration elsewhere, . It will seek to place the Holy Ghost as central in the theology of ritual ordinances. It will suggest that while Latter-day Saints believe that outward ordinances are not salvific in themselves they are channels of the Holy Ghost, which is the active medium of the grace of Christ to make sanctification and exaltation possible