Walter Wink dies
Leading Christian theologian and advocate of active nonviolence dies aged 76
Quakers and other peace activists have expressed their sadness at the death of Walter Wink, a leading Christian theologian and advocate of active nonviolence. He died on 10 May at his home in the US, aged 76.
Wink trained people of many faiths in nonviolent resistance in the Philippines, Latin America and apartheid South Africa, as well as in the US and Europe. He developed Gandhi’s understanding of nonviolence as a more effective and more radical option than both violence and passivity.
‘Wink’s work has been invaluable in helping Friends to maintain a biblical basis for their concerns in the areas of peace, social justice and sexual diversity,’ said Stuart Masters, senior programme leader at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre.
Walter Wink’s most famous work is Engaging the Powers, published in 1992. The book presents capitalism as one manifestation of the ‘domination system’ that is in conflict with the freedom and justice of God’s kingdom.
