Marian Hillar is an American philosopher, theologian, linguist, and scientist. He is a recognized authority on

Michael Servetus Michael Servetus (; ; ; also known as ''Michel Servetus'', ''Miguel de Villanueva'', ''Revés'', or ''Michel de Villeneuve''; 29 September 1509 or 1511 – 27 October 1553) was a Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance ...

and together with classicist and political theorist, C. A. Hoffman, translated the major works of Michael Servetus from Latin into English for the first time. He identified the radical search for truth and the right for freedom of conscience as Servetus' main legacies, rather than his theology and scientific discovery. He studied the influence of Servetus in the world and the development and ideas of the

Socinian Socinianism ( ) is a Nontrinitarian Christian belief system developed and co-founded during the Protestant Reformation by the Italian Renaissance humanists and theologians Lelio Sozzini and Fausto Sozzini, uncle and nephew, respectively. I ...

movement in the 16th and 17th centuries, precursors of the Enlightenment and modern era. He does research in the

history of ideas Intellectual history (also the history of ideas) is the study of the history of human thought and of intellectuals, people who conceptualize, discuss, write about, and concern themselves with ideas. The investigative premise of intellectual hist ...

and is author of numerous studies in the history of philosophy, ethics, theological doctrines, and Radical Reformation.

Biography

Marian Hillar was born in 1938 in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

(present-day Poland) in an old family claiming its roots in 14th-century Holland. He received classical education in highly selective elementary and secondary schools with emphasis on science and languages. He earned his degrees at the Medical University of Gdansk and studied at the

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

and at Sorbonne. He was invited in 1969 to do research at

Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...

in Houston. He became a US citizen in 1977. He did research and taught in Europe at the Medical University of Gdansk and the Università degli studi di Camerino, and in the USA at the Baylor College of Medicine and the Ponce School of Medicine. He is currently professor of philosophy and religious studies, and he is director of the Center for Philosophy and Socinian Studies which he founded in 1986.

History of philosophy and religion

Marian Hillar has published studies on the philosophy of Hippocratic medicine; Greek philosophy of science and the origin of science; ancient Greek philosophy; liberation theology; the New Testament, Dead Sea Scrolls, early Christian writers, and the origin of Christianity; Philo of Alexandria, Numenius, early church fathers and development of the theory of logos and of the Trinity; studies in ethics- Stoics, Thomas Aquinas, Kant; Radical Reformation and development of antitrinitarian doctrines, Socinians; development of modern ideas on freedom of conscience and church-state separation.

Development of the theory of logos and of the Trinity

Hillar's major theological work is demonstrating how the doctrine of the Trinity was developed from various sources through the evolution of the Jewish messianic expectations which underwent changes during centuries. He identified as its sources the Greek philosophical concept of the Logos, Middle Platonic philosophical ideas, especially of Numenius and Philo of Alexandria, and the Egyptian religious ideas about the trinity of divinity.

Editorship

Hillar is founder and was editor-in-chief (1992-2012) of the ''Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism'', a scholarly journal published yearly since 1992 by the Humanists of Houston. In 2005, the

American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a 501(c) organization, non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defe ...

, Washington, D.C., agreed to assume the duties of publishing the journal under its aegis.

Select publications

*Marian Hillar, "Energetics and Kinetic Mechanisms of Enzyme Function", pp. 685, Whittier Publications, Lido Beach, New York, 1994. *Marian Hillar, "The Case of Michael Servetus (1511-1553) - The Turning Point in the Struggle for Freedom of Conscience," pp. 444,

Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press, sometimes stylised as Mellen Press, is an academic publisher. It was founded in 1972 by theology professor Herbert Richardson (publisher), Herbert W. Richardson. It has been involved in a number of notable legal and acad ...

, Lewiston N.Y., 1997; second printing in 1999. *Marian Hillar with Claire S. Allen, “Michael Servetus: Intellectual Giant, Humanist, and Martyr,” pp. 274+xxvii. (Lanham, New York, Oxford:

University Press of America University Press of America (''UPA'') is the former name of an American Academic publishing, academic publishing company based in Lanham, Maryland, which became the parent company of Rowman & Littlefield publishing house, then was later re-intr ...

, 2002). *Marian Hillar, and Christopher A. Hoffman, translators: “The Restoration of Christianity. An English Translation of Christianismi restitutio, 1553, by Michael Servetus (1511-1553). Translated by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar,” (Lewiston, NY; Queenston, Ont., Canada; Lampeter, Wales, UK:

, 2007). *Marian Hillar, and Christopher A. Hoffman, translators: “Treatise on Faith and Justice of Christ’s Kingdom by Michael Servetus. Selected and Translated from Christianismi restitutio by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar,” (Lewiston, NY; Queenston, Ont., Canada; Lampeter, Wales, UK:

, 2008). *Marian Hillar, and Christopher A. Hoffman, translators: “Treatise Concerning the Supernatural Regeneration and the Kingdom of the Antichrist by Michael Servetus. Selected and Translated from Christianismi restitutio by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar,” (Lewiston, NY; Queenston, Ont., Canada; Lampeter, Wales, UK:

, 2008). *Marian Hillar, and Christopher A. Hoffman, translators: “Thirty Letters to Calvin & Sixty Signs of the Antichrist by Michael Servetus.” Translated from Christianismi restitutio by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar (Lewiston, NY; Queenston, Ont., Canada; Lampeter, Wales, UK:

, 2010). Pp. 175 + lxxxvi. *Marian Hillar, and Christopher A. Hoffman, translators: “Regarding the Mystery of the Trinity and the Teaching of the Ancients to Philip Melanchthon and His Colleagues by Michael Servetus." (Lewiston, NY; Queenston, Ont., Canada; Wales, UK:

, 2015), 103 pp + lii. *Juan Naya and Marian Hillar, eds., “Michael Servetus, Heartfelt: Proceedings of the International Servetus Congress, Barcelona, 20–21 October 2006,” (Lanham, MD and Plymouth UK:

, 2011). 430 pp. *Marian Hillar, "From Logos to Trinity: The Evolution of Religious Beliefs from Pythagoras to Tertullian," pp. 332,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2012. *Marian Hillar, “The Historical Development Toward a Non-Theistic Humanistic Ethics: Essays from the Ancient Stoics to Modern Science.” (Lewiston, NY; Queenston, Ont., Canada; Lampeter, Wales, UK:

, 2015), 278 pp + lxii.

References

External links

Marian Hillar's Website
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110905094424/http://www.berkshirehumanists.org.uk/?p=1368 David McKnight, "Just in case you were beginning to think that Humanism was a simple concept..." December 1, 2008. *http://www.countrysidebiblechurch.org/Files/Acrobat/FREEDOM.pdf *http://www.liberationtheology.org/ *http://www.skeptically.org/bible/id12.html *http://www.miguelservet.org/servetus/hillar.htm

*http://people.stfx.ca/wsweet/Book-Istanbul-TOC.htm "Numenius and Greek Sources of the Central Christian Theological Doctrine", The Proceedings of the XXI World Congress of Philosophy, Volume 8 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hillar, Marian Living people 21st-century American philosophers American theologians 1938 births Jagiellonian University alumni University of Paris alumni