Wink challenged ‘powers’ and taught nonviolence

New Testament theologian Walter Wink, noted for relating the biblical phrase “principalities and powers” to the dominating sociopolitical structures of the modern era, died May 10, leaving a legacy of books, teachings and nonviolent resistance to apartheid in South Africa. Diagnosed with dementia, he died at home in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, at age 76.

Credited with coining the phrase “the myth of redemptive violence,” Dallas-born Wink was the author of a dozen books, including the award-winning Naming the Powers (1984), Unmasking the Powers (1986), Engaging the Powers (1992) and When the Powers Fall (1998). Wink wrote articles over the years for the Century and was an editor at large at his death.

Wink graduated from Southern Methodist University and served as a Methodist pastor in Hitchcock, Texas, from 1962 to 1967. He then went to New York City, where he earned M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees at Union Theological Seminary and taught there until 1976 before a brief stint at Hartford Seminary. Shortly thereafter Wink joined the faculty at Auburn Theological Seminary, retiring as professor emeritus in 2005.