American biblical scholars

Walter Wink (May 21, 1935 – May 10, 2012) was an American Biblical scholar, theologian, and activist who was an important figure in Progressive Christianity. Wink spent much of his career teaching at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. He was well known for his advocacy of and work related to nonviolent resistance and his seminal works on "The Powers", Naming the Powers (1984), Unmasking the Powers (1986), Engaging the Powers (1992), When the Powers Fall (1998), and The Powers that Be (1999), all of them commentaries on the Apostle Paul's ethic of spiritual warfare described here: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Breaking with Christian hermeneutic tradition of Christian demonology, he interprets Paul's hierarchy of "rulers" to refer to imperial powers, with corresponding and political theologies and ideologies of state violence. Giving examples from ancient Babylon through the popular media of today, these are supported by, in a phrase he coined "the myth of redemptive violence".

Alexa Suelzer (June 19, 1918 – June 26, 2015) was an American author, educator and theologian known for her Old Testament criticism. A Roman Catholic religious sister, she was a member of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. One of her most cited works is her essay "Modern Old Testament Criticism" in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. In addition to her writing, she taught for twenty years at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.