What are the main points of Emile Durkheim's analysis of religion in Elementary Forms of Religion Life?

Emile Durkheim's theory of religion posits that religion is a concrete personified symbol of the society (or social group) itself. According to this theory, the godhead, deities, spirits, or other objects of worship represent the powers and characteristics of the social group.

Take the issue of immortality, for example. An individual human being is mortal and will experience death. However, a social group is potentially immortal. As individuals within the group continue to procreate, the group itself continues without end. Durkheim supposed that the immortality of deities served to concretely symbolize the social group's power of immortality. In symbolizing the power of the group to live forever, individuals are able to access that power in their own daily lives.

Another example of this theory in action is the idea of healing. An individual is not able to heal themselves from sickness, however the group may be able to heal the person through combined effort. The healing doctor (or medicine man), the care and attention of family members, etc.; all these social factors may come together to heal a person. The healing power of the social group is symbolized by the healing powers of deities and spirits in religion. For Durkheim, religion serves to symbolize the social group, a power that is indeed much larger and much more lasting than any single individual within that group.