Founded in 1988, The Pascal Centre for Advanced Studies in Faith and Science promotes constructive relations between Christian faith and the natural sciences by means of education, outreach, and research in the light of Scripture. In seeking to provide Christian leadership in a secular culture, the Pascal Centre addresses not only current, but also new and forgotten questions. 

The Pascal Fellow attached to the Centre is Dr. Jitse M. van der Meer.

As van der Meer writes,

“For many, the question of how science can help to understand the Bible has high priority, but the Centre also explores how Christian faith can contribute to an understanding of nature. The Centre approaches this question not just in the sense that faith motivates the study of God’s creation, but it explores how religious beliefs affect the very content of scientific explanation”

The Pascal Centre Notebook: Celebrating 10 years of faith and science research

Pascal Publications

Books

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Scott Mandelbrote. Nature and Scripture in the Abrahamic Religions: 1700-Present. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008, V. 1.

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Scott Mandelbrote. Nature and Scripture in the Abrahamic Religions: 1700-Present. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008, V. 2.

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Scott Mandelbrote. Nature and Scripture in the Abrahamic Religions: Up to 1700. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008, V. 1.

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Scott Mandelbrote. Nature and Scripture in the Abrahamic Religions: Up to 1700. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008, V. 2.

Howell, Kenneth J. God’s Two Books: Copernican Cosmology and Biblical Interpretation in Early Modern Science. Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press, 2004. 

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Margaret Osler and John Hedley Brooke, eds. Osiris V. 16: Science in Theistic Contexts. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2001. 

McMullen, Emerson Thomas. William Harvey and the Use of Purpose in the Scientific Revolution: Cosmos by Chance or Universe by Design? Lanham: University Press of America, 1998. 

Hooykaas, R. Robert Boyle: A Study in Science and Christian Belief. Lanham: University Press of America, 1997. 

Van der Meer, Jitse. Facets of Faith & Science V.1: Historiography and Modes of Interaction. University Publishing Association, 1996. 

Van der Meer, Jitse. Facets of Faith & Science V.2: The Role of Beliefs in Faith in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences. University Publishing Association, 1996. 

Van der Meer, Jitse. Facets of Faith & Science V.3: The Role of Beliefs in the Natural Sciences. University Publishing Association, 1996. 

Van der Meer, Jitse. Facets of Faith & Science V.4: Interpreting God’s Action in the World. University Publishing Association, 1996. 

Book Chapters

Van der Meer, J.M. “Genesis, Science, and Theories of Origin,” in The Cambridge Companion to Genesis, Bill T. Arnold ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2022, pp. 236-261.

Van der Meer, J. M. “The Concept of Natural Selection in Theodosius Dobzhansky: Its Development and Interpretation,” in: Natural Selection: Revisiting its Explanatory Role in Evolutionary Biology, Richard G. Delisle (ed.), Cham, CH.: Springer, 2021, pp. 291-326. https://www.springer.com/series/16175

Van der Meer, J. M. “Is There a Created Order for Cosmic Evolution in the Philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd?” In The Future of Creation Order – Vol. 1, Philosophical, Scientific, and Religious Perspectives on Order and Emergence, edited by Gerrit Glas and Jeroen de Ridder, pp. 171-202. Berlin: Springer Verlag, 2017.

Van der Meer, J. M. “European Calvinists and the Study of Nature: Some Historical Patterns and Problems,”  In Calvinism and the Making of the European Mind, edited by Gijsbert van den Brink & Harro Höpfl, pp. 103-130. Dordrecht: Brill Academic Publishers, 2014.

Van der Meer, J. M. “Stratified Cosmic Order: Distinguishing Parts, Wholes, and Levels of Organization” In Science and Faith within Reason: Reality, Creation, Life and Design, edited by Jaume Navarro, pp. 145-164. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2011.

Van der Meer, J. M. “Georges Cuvier and the Use of Scripture in Geology,” In Nature and Scripture: History of a Dialogue V.2, edited by Jitse Van der Meer and Scott Mandelbrote, pp. 115-144. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2008.   

Van der Meer, J. M., and R. Oosterhoff. “God, Scripture, and the Rise of Modern Science (1200-1700): Notes in the Margin of Harrison’s Hypothesis.” In Nature and Scripture: History of a Dialogue V.1, edited by Jitse Van der Meer and Scott Mandelbrote, pp. 363-396. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2008.

Van der Meer, J. M. “Theodosius Dobzhansky: Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of Religion.” In Eminent Lives in Twentieth-Century Science and Religion, edited by Nicolaas Rupke, pp. 79-101. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2007.

Van der Meer, J. M. “Reading Nature in the Light of Scripture: the Case of Georges Cuvier (1769-1832).” In The Book of Nature in Early Modern and Modern History, edited by K. van Berkel and A. Vanderjagt, pp. 181-193. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2006.

Van der Meer, J. M. “De Biologie van Moreel Gedrag: Een Keuze Uit Feiten en Ficties.” In Schitterend Ongeluk of Sporen van Ontwerp: Over Toeval en Doelgerichtheid in de Evolutie, edited by C. Dekker, W.J. Meester, and R. van Woudenberg, pp. 235-254. Ten Have: Baarn Publishers, 2005.

Van der Meer, J. M. “Interpreting Nature and Scripture: A New Proposal for their Interaction.” In Christianity and the Human Body: A Theology of the Human Body, edited by Robert Brungs, SJ Postiglione, and Marianne Postiglione, pp. 38-72. St. Louis: ITEST Faith/Science Press, 2001.

Van der Meer, J.M. “The Actor in the Interaction of Science and Religion. An Application of Dooyeweerd’s Anthropology to the Study of Religion and Science Relations.” In The Collected Works of Herman Dooyeweerd Series V.1: Contemporary Reflections on the Philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd, pp. 183-194. Lewiston: Edwin Mellin Press, 2000.

Scholarly Articles

van der Meer, J.M. (2025). Is Cuvier’s Notion of Perfection Paradoxical? Revue d’histoire des sciences, Tome 78(2), 437-460. https://doi.org/10.3917/rhs.782.0437.

van der Meer, J. M. “Przekonania towarzyszące, ideologia i nauka,”  Filozoficzne Aspekty Genezy 13: 153-194 (2016). (Polish tr. of “Background Beliefs, Ideology and Science,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 65 (2): 87-103 (2013). 

van der Meer J. M., “Introduction”, Philosophical Inquiries III, 1, 2015: 41-46.

van der Meer, J. M. “Assessing Metaphor as Mediator Between Christianity and Science,” Philosophical Inquiries 3 (1) 2015: 157-182. 

van der Meer, J. M. “Background Beliefs, Ideology and Science,” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 65 (2): 87-103 (2013). 

van der Meer, J.M. and Oosterhoff, Richard J. “The Bible, Protestantism and the Rise of Natural Science: a Response to Harrison’s Thesis” Science and Christian Belief 20-2 (2009) 133-153.

van der Meer, J.M. “Divine Action and The Varieties of Downward Causation: an Ambiguous  Concept in Theology and Science.” In: Studies in Science and Theology 8: 141-161 (2002).  (Eds. N.H. Gregersen, M.W. Parsons).  

van der Meer, J.M. “The Engagement of Religion and Biology: A Case Study in the Mediating Role of Metaphor in the Sociobiology of Lumsden and Wilson.” Biology and Philosophy 15: 669-698 (2000). 

van der Meer, J.M. “The Role of Metaphysical & Religious Beliefs in Science.”  In: Studies in Science and Theology 5: 247-256 (1997).  (Eds. N.H. Gregersen, M.W. Parsons). Labor et Fides. Geneva, 1999.

van der Meer, J. M. “The Concept of Human Nature in Science and Theology”.  In: Studies in Science and Theology Vol.3: 187-192. (Eds. N.H. Gregersen, M.W. Parsons). Labor et Fides. Geneva, 1997.

van der Meer, J. M. “The Multi-Modal Hierarchy: Distinguishing Parts, Wholes, and Levels of Organization.”  In: Hall, M.L.H. (editor)  Proceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences.  Pages 507-518.  Louisville, KY.: International Society for the Systems Sciences, 1996. 

van der Meer, J.M. “Religious Belief in Sociobiology: How a Physical Analogy Introduces Materialism in Human Sociobiology”.  In: Facets of Faith and Science.  Volume 2: 271-286 (ed. J.M. van der Meer). The Pascal Centre for Advanced Studies in Faith and Science / University Press of America.  Lanham. 1996.

van der Meer, J. M. “The Struggle Between Christian Theism, Metaphysical Naturalism and Relativism: How to Proceed in Science?”  Faculty Dialogue 26, 1996. http://www.iclnet.org/pub/facdialogue/Issue26/. Recipient of the Howard Vollum Writing Award for 1996 of the Institute for Christian Leadership.

Book Reviews

Van der Meer, J. M. and Koert van Bekkum. Review of Dennis R. Venema and Scot McKnight. Adam and the Genome: Reading Scripture after Genetic Science (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2017). In Science and Christian Belief 29, no. 2, pp. 191-193: 2017.

Van der Meer, J. M. “Ab Flipse, Christelijke wetenschap: Nederlandse rooms-katholieken en gereformeerden over de natuurwetenschap, 1880-1940.” In Isis: An International Review Devoted to the History of Science and its Cultural Influences 106, pp. 960-62: 2015.

Van der Meer, J.M. “Wel en Wee van Christelijke Natuurwetenschap: Boekbespreking en Nabeschouwing: Essay Review of Ab Flipse, Christelijke wetenschap: Nederlandse rooms-katholieken en gereformeerden over de natuurwetenschap, 1880-1940 (Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren, 2014). In Radix 41, no. 1, pp. 15-27: 2015.

Van der Meer, J. M. Review of Peter J. Colyer. The Pre-Scientific Bible: Cultural Influences on the Biblical Writers and How They Affect Our Reading of the Bible Today (Washington: Circle Books. 2013). In European Society for the Study of Science and Theology News & Reviews 24, no. 3, pp. 21-24: 2014.

Van der Meer, J. M. The Cambridge Companion to Science and Religion, edited by Peter Harrison (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010). In ISIS 102, no. 2, pp. 348-349: 2011.

Van der Meer, J. M. The faith of scientists in their own words, by  Nancy K. Frankenberry. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008). In Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 62, no. 4, pp. 301-302: 2010. 

Van der Meer, J. M. “The Deep Structure of Biology.” In Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 62, no. 3, pp. 222-223: 2010.

Van der Meer, J.M. Science’s Blind Spot: The Unseen Religion of Scientific Naturalism (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2007). In Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 60, no. 2, pp. 136-136: 2008.

Van der Meer, J.M. “Progress in Nature and Culture: How Biology Can Have the Best of Both Worlds.” Invited essay-review of Monad to Man by M. Ruse.  Biology and Philosophy 15: 759-772.

Van der Meer, J.M. “Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology,” by M. Ruse. In Interdisciplinary Studies 11, pp. 203-204: 1999.

Van der Meer, J.M. “Michael Heller, The New Physics and a New Theology,” by G.V. Coyne, S. Giovanninni, and T.M. Sierotowicz (Vatican: Vatican Observatory Publications, 1996). In Nuincius: Annali di Storia della Scienza 14, no. 1, pp. 362-265: 1999.