Marcia BungeFaculty

Marcia J. Bunge earned a B.A. in Music and English from St. Olaf College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Chicago.

She has taught courses and has spoken and published widely on various topics in theology, ethics, world Christianity, inter-religious studies, and childhood studies, and her work has taken her to over 30 countries.

Most recently, her primary research focuses on child advocacy and perspectives on children and childhood in world religions, and she has published numerous articles and six foundational volumes on the subject: 

• The Child in Christian Thought (Eerdmans, 2001)
• The Child in the Bible (Eerdmans,  2008)
• Children and Childhood in World Religions: Primary Texts and Sources (Rutgers University Press, 2009)
• Children, Adults, and Shared Responsibilities: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
• Nordic Childhoods 1750-1960: From Folk Beliefs to Pippi Longstocking (Routledge, 2018)
• Child Theology: Diverse Methods and Global Perspectives (Orbis 2021)

Her work on religious understandings of children and childhood has been supported by various grants totaling nearly $700,000. Dr. Bunge has also served on several national and international child-focused committees and boards including the steering committees of the Childhood Studies program units of both the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature. She also served as a "core collaborator" for an interdisciplinary project on "European Childhoods," directed by Professor R. Aasgaard and hosted by the University of Oslo, Norway. 

Dr. Bunge is also a Lutheran theologian who has written on various topics in Lutheran theology and ethics. She translated and edited a collection of essays by the 19th-century Lutheran theologian and educator J.G. Herder titled Against Pure Reason: Writings on History, Language, and Religion (Fortress Press, 1993; Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2004). She has also spoken and written about Lutheran understandings of education and vocation. At Valparaiso she directed the planning grant for the university’s two million dollar “Theological Exploration of Vocation” project and served on the ELCA’s National Task Force on Education. She is also a co-founder of the Gustavus Academy for Faith, Science, and Ethics. She continues to speak and write about Lutheran understandings of education and vocation and has published numerous articles and two books on the subject:

• Rooted in Heritage, Open to the World: Reflections on the Distinctive Character of Gustavus Adolphus College (Fortress, 2018);
• So That All May Flourish: The Aims of Lutheran Higher Education, co-edited with Martha E. Stortz and Jason Mahn (Fortress, 2023).

See Vita below and Amazon.com for additional publications.

The Bernhardson Chair was established in 1999 by the Rev. Drell Bernhardson and his wife, Adeline, friends of the College who sent all four of their children to Gustavus, to provide resources to reaffirm the College’s Lutheran tradition.

• Bunge Vita June 2024 FINAL.pdf

Courses Taught