The Bonds of Freedom: vows, sacraments and the formation of the Christian self (2008)

My doctoral thesis from Monash University was published as a monograph in 2008 by Paternoster Press. It is now available as a paperback with Wipf and Stock.

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.

A couple of positive reviews:

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, 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, Fellow of the Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, 

Regent's Park College, University of Oxford, UK

The book can be purchased from the publisher's website.