PEMAKNAAN AGAMA DALAM PERSPEKTIF ANTROPOLOGI-SOSIOLOGI

Abstract

There are many experts of various disciplines provide definition and understanding of religion. Some of them have been revealed in this writing related to anthropology and sociology only. E.B. Taylor was the first who studied and provided minimal definition of religion as a belief to spiritual beings. He said that the origin of religion began when the man was aware of the existence of soul. Frazer believes that the origin of religion began when the man was not able to solve various problems of their lives due to limitation of their reasoning. Whereas Durkheim assumes that religion was a sosial product as a collective thing with the aim to unite the members of society in a moral community. Durkheim emphasizes that nothing is wrong in religion. In reality all religions are right in its own model. This means religion is right based on the religion itself and its adherents. The writer states that the frames to understand religious phenomena are : first, it has supernatural concept; second, it has doctrine and teaching in the holy book, revelation, oral and written sources; third, cosmology that is how this nature is composed following the perception of its followers; fourth, ritual or charity ceremony, and fifth, mediator of religion and religious group.