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Marcus Borg, a world-famous religion scholar and OSU philosophy professor, will teach his final class on campus - after 41 years - on March 16.

Imprints: World renowned professor starts a new chapter in life

Professor Marcus Borg will teach his last class at OSU on March 16 after 28 years on campus

By: Aleks Cherednichenko

Posted: 3/8/07

The youngest of four children, Marcus Borg, grew up in North Dakota in a Lutheran family in the early 1940s.

These days, the OSU professor is considered to be the top scholar on the topic of Jesus and ancient Christian scripture at Oregon State.

"I was exposed to religion from an early age," Borg said.

He went to Concordia College, a small liberal arts school in Minnesota. During his junior year at Concordia, he took a class in religious studies.

"It was the most exciting course I've taken in my life," Borg said. "The professor who taught the course exposed us to so many different religious thinkers and addressed all the big questions."

The class decided Borg's future career plans.

"By the time I was 20, I knew what I wanted to do with my life, and I've never been sorry," Borg said.

Borg identifies himself as a Christian non-literalist, and a non-exclusivist.

"I don't take the language in the Bible literally and I don't think that Christianity is the only right religion," Borg said.

Borg received his doctorate degree at Oxford University in England and published his first book by the time he was 27. He takes a historical approach to religion, studying ancient texts in their ancient context.

"I came to Oregon out of sheer randomness," Borg said.

He was looking for a teaching job and wanted to move either to Maine or Oregon.

"I've never been to any of the two states before, but I knew I wanted to move to either one," Borg said.

He was offered the job at OSU first, and in 1979 he began to teach religious studies on campus. When the philosophy and religious departments merged at OSU, Borg stayed on as a philosophy professor.

In his 28 years of teaching at OSU, Borg has taught courses from topics such as the Bible, Jesus, God and world religions to topics like feminism, science and politics.

"He takes encounters with individuals as very meaningful experiences," said Courtney Campbell, chair of the philosophy department. "His classes are so well thought out, and it reflects upon his students."

Borg's career as a scholar spans over 41 years. In that time he has published 14 books, traveled all over the world teaching seminars and has appeared on shows like The Today Show and Prime Time.

"I travel about 100,000 miles each year," Borg said.

"It's a very rare instance where you go to a university and the name Marcus Borg isn't known," Campbell said.

Since 1991 Borg has split his time between Corvallis and Portland - where he lives and writes - with his wife, Rev. Marianne Borg.

"I think that Marcus has received just about every teaching award at OSU," Campbell said.

"He's a fabulous teacher, students are always invited to think and speak freely in classes," said Kathleen Moore, a philosophy professor.

"For many students his courses are life changing, he really pushes them to think about their basic assumptions about religion," Campbell said.

Borg also brings a special guest to almost all his classes - his dog Henry.

Besides his religious expertise, Borg has brought renowned speakers to OSU, like Karen Armstrong, through various conferences on campus.

Borg is also the chair of the Hundere Foundation, which supports various programs relevant to the study of religion. The Hundere Foundation was established when a friend of Borg's, Al Hundere, donated $1 million to OSU.

Borg will continue teaching, even after he finishes his last lecture March 16.

"I love the egalitarianism of a public university, there's a wonderful democratic flavor here, that wasn't present at some of the small private universities I've taught in the past," Borg said.

"He's really been a model of rationality, and simply a gracious colleague," Moore said. "He's helped me connect the relationship between spirituality and religion."

"I'll really miss teaching this age group, I'll still travel to lecture but those people are usually middle age," Borg said. "There's an intellectual freshness to this age group, something that's not present anywhere else."