Man’s products are transformed into the world
Berger,(3) says that society is an enterprise of world-building and Religion is part of it. He also adds that society and humankind have a symbiotic relationship. Society cannot exist without men and men are a product of society. In religion, society existed before man and it remains even after the death of men. The notation that humans create culture and culture, in turn, shapes humans is true since; within the society, social processes shape an individual and gives him a sense of identity. Three fundamental steps help us understand society. These include Externalization, Objectivation, and Internalization.
Externalization is the process by which human beings both mentally and physically are socially built by outpouring them into the world. Human beings cannot conceive and develop into a different society apart from the world they currently leave in. The human condition is determined by our inbuilt instability which also determines our relationship to our body. Man must, therefore, create a relationship with the world and in turn, create himself (Berger,6).
In this step, man’s products are transformed into the world; and it contains both the materials and nonmaterial things that can either benefit man or cause harm. For example, when a man makes an ax, this ax may benefit man but it can also cause bodily injuries to the user. Therefore, it is right to conclude that society is an objectivated human activity as it responds to human action (Berger,11).
Internalization, therefore, is believed to be the process where the objectivated world is reabsorbed into the conscious until a clear image from the human consciousness is formed. Therefore, we can conclude that religion has attempted to portray the universe as being humanly significant by infusing his ideas of reality, with his meaning.