episcopacy was always seen as necessary for full visible unity. Baptism and the Eucharist Avis's theology is deeply sacramental without becoming partisan or restrictive. Based upon the theology of "symbolic realism" (see above), Avis’s thought is neither individualist nor spiritualist. His "wholeness paradigm" for church and society is rooted in the notion of koinonia (communion, fellowship). The church expresses this symbolic realism and this communal understanding of humanity in its sacraments. Baptism incorporates people into the body of Christ and the eucharist reconstitutes this body time and again. For Avis, these sacraments (together with the proclamation of the Word) are the core of an ecclesial life that opens up towards a pastoral and missionary presence in society. Works (selected) Published books The Church in the Theology of the Reformers (London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1982; reprinted Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 1982) Ecumenical Theology and the Elusiveness of Doctrine (London: SPCK, 1986) The Methods of Modern Theology (Basingstoke, Hants: Marshall Pickering, 1986) Foundations of Modern Historical Thought: From Machiavelli to Vico (Beckenham, Kent: Croom Helm, 1986) Gore: Construction and Conflict (Worthing, Sussex: Churchman, 1988) Eros and the Sacred (London: SPCK, 1989) Christians in Communion (London: Geoffrey Chapman Mowbray, 1990) Authority, Leadership and Conflict in the Church (London: Mowbray, 1992) Faith in the Fires of Criticism: Christianity in Modern Thought (London; Darton, Longman and Todd, 1995; reprinted Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2006) God and the Creative Imagination: Metaphor, Symbol and Myth in Religion and Theology (London: Routledge, 1999) The Anglican Understanding of the Church (London: SPCK, 2000) Church, State and Establishment (London: SPCK, 2001) Anglicanism and the Christian Church: Theological Resources in Historical Perspective ([1989] 2nd edn, London and New York: T&T Clark, 2002) A Church Drawing Near: Spirituality and Mission in a Post-Christian Culture (London and New York: T&T Clark, 2003) A Ministry Shaped by Mission (London and New York: T&T Clark, 2005) Beyond the Reformation? Authority, Primacy and Unity in the Conciliar Tradition (London and New York: T&T Clark, 2006) The Identity of Anglicanism: Essentials of Anglican Ecclesiology (London and New York: T&T Clark, 2008) Reshaping Ecumenical Theology (London and New York: T&T Clark, 2010). Becoming a Bishop: Theological Handbook of Episcopal Ministry (Bloomsbury/T&T Clark, 2015) In Search of Authority: Anglican Theological Method from the Reformation to the Enlightenment (Bloomsbury/T&T Clark, 2014). The Vocation of Anglicanism (Bloomsbury/T&T Clark, 2016). Jesus and the Church: The Foundation of the Church