ABSTRACT
Covenant is tied in an ambiguous relationship to two related terms, compact and contract. On one hand, both compacts and contracts are related to, and even may be derived from, covenant, and sometimes the terms are even used interchangeably. On the other hand, there are very real differences between the three that need clarification. Both covenants and compacts differ from contracts in that the first two are constitutional or public, and the last private in character. As such, covenantal or compactual obligation is broadly reciprocal. The covenant idea has within it the seeds of modern constitutionalism in that it emphasizes the mutually accepted limitations on the power of all parties to it, a limitation not inherent in nature but involving willed concessions. Consequently, the covenant idea has re-emerged in the first generation of the postmodern epoch and may yet be recovered by a weakened West, plagued by faintheartedness, self-doubt, and a new paganism.
