When a person follows a religion, he or she has a religious belief. For example, one of the beliefs of Christianity is not to steal. The concept applies to recent readings of American literature. To explain this, John Winthrop preached a sermon titled “A Pattern of Christian Charity” and in this sermon he talked about several “rules” and ideologies that a true Christian should follow. For example, one of the demands was that "...the rich and powerful should not devour the poor, nor should the poor and despised rise up against their superiors and shake off their yoke" (Winthrop 91). Winthrop is saying that everyone should be seen as equal but without trying to disturb the peace of different social classes. Religion influenced the way of life of people in the early years. Winthrop believed that if someone did not follow these rules they would go to hell and suffer. Religion was an especially serious concept for these people because it was applied so heavily. The fact that Winthrop wrote an entire sermon on how a person should think and live based on religious factors can prove that religion definitely influenced his mentality and life.