The distinction between the sacred and the profane is taught in most introductory courses in sociology of religion, with obligatory reference to the work of Durkheim. The distinction brings about a bipartite division of the entire universe. Sacred things are protected and isolated by interdictions; profane things are under rules emanating from these interdictions. A definition of religion follows: “A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things.”

In Durkheim's works the sacred looks very much like a wafer ensconced in a precious container (hidden in a tabernacle, with its presence signalled by a little flame giving a small red light), or like a scroll wrapped in embroidered velvet and with a gold crown on top. In fact res sacrae (cultic utensils) is the oldest appearance of the term. The behaviour of believers in front of sacred objects tends to become objectified. (Durkheim made it a rule to treat social facts as things). To Bastide, these visions of cult objects direct the thinking about religion into the wrong directions. Durkheim's definition does not work well with Low Church Protestantism, which has no strict ritual rules on how to handle the Bible or how to use the space in a church building. Bastide would also doubt that religions are “systems” that are as unified as Durkheim says.