The Bonds of Freedom

This book proposes that Christian worship is a key source for any theology seeking to understand the covenant between God and human beings in the Christian tradition. Through a detailed examination of phenomenological, biblical and theological sources, the author seeks to write a theology in which the selfhood of both God and human beings is seen as essentially 'vowed' or 'covenantal.' This claim is then explored through a detailed examination of Eucharistic worship, which is understood as a 'non-identical performance' of the covenant established between God and human beings in baptism. Here, then, is a theology that understands Christian worship not simply as 'form' or 'event' but, more radically, as a mutual act of promising and commitment between God and human beings.
'Dr. Deverell has made a strong contribution. Sacramentality and its relationship to covenant is a position which one rarely finds so fully and richly expressed in sacramental literature. The sacrament of the Eucharist has indeed included the Eucharist as covenant: the cup of the new covenant. But Dr. Deverell has made this covenantal idea central. The insights of this book can help theologians further develop the essential dimension of sacramental responsibility.'
-- Kenan B. Osborne is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Franciscan School of Theology
'Garry Deverell has written an important book for students and scholars. He is a skilled exegete of postmodernism, biblical text and liturgical thought and practice. Anyone hoping to write in the future about baptism will have to consult what is found here.'
-- Paul Sheppy is Minister of Abbey Baptist Church, Reading, and a Fellow of the Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, UK
Garry J. Deverell is a Minister of the Uniting Church in Australia, and an Honorary Research Associate in the Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology at Monash University. He lives with his family and two rats in Melbourne, Australia.