For Puritans in the early New England colonies, life was far from easy, but there was an opportunity to expand their beliefs without being persecuted by the Church of England. They had the opportunity to create their ideal society under God with the Bible as the law by which they would define how to live. The Puritans decided to create their own model society that could spread and eliminate impurities from the church. But how did these beliefs and goals ultimately influence their society? In Eric Foner's book Give Me Liberty: An American History he notes that: “Puritanism, however, was not simply a set of ideas but a state of mind, a zeal in pursuing the true faith that alienated many who held religious views different” (Foner 63). Puritans saw religion not just as belief but as life, they had an obligation to God to be ideal Christians. This idea that their religion was their life led to the idea of ​​a covenant with God. Including this is Digital History The Puritan idea of ​​the Covenant: "All social relations...were conceived in terms of a covenant or a contract that was based on consent and mutual responsibilities". This idea of ​​covenant emphasized the Puritans' belief that they were responsible for their religion and to fulfill their end of the bargain they had to follow God's law or the Bible to the "T." The Puritans' beliefs were incredibly strong, but this overzealous attitude toward their religious beliefs helped create problems down the road. The beliefs and goals for the perfect society influenced the laws, religious customs and clichés of individual communities. Professor Robert N. Barger notes in Puritans that "God was at the forefront of their minds, he had to motivate all... middle of paper ......t in their society, even if he wasn't I didn't see it soon Their rigid lifestyle and drive to keep humanism out of their society played another role in the collapse of their social structure The lofty goal, the perfection, the city on a hill that the rest of the world could emulate, they ultimately failed in their quest but helped with colonization and resulting religious freedoms in America Works Cited Barger, Professor Robert N. “Puritans. "University of Notre Dame. .Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History: W. W. Norton &, 2008.zsMatthew, Dr. Terry "Puritanism in America." Covenant." Digital history. .