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,

鈥淔or 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鈥檚 creation, but it explores how religious beliefs affect the very content of scientific explanation鈥

Pascal Publications

Books

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Scott Mandelbrote. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008. 

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Scott Mandelbrote. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008.

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Scott Mandelbrote. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008. 

Howell, Kenneth J. Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press, 2004. 

Van der Meer, Jitse, and Margaret Osler and John Hedley Brooke, eds. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2001. 

McMullen, Emerson Thomas. Lanham: University Press of America, 1998. 

Hooykaas, R.. Lanham: University Press of America, 1997. 

Van der Meer, Jitse. . University Publishing Association, 1996. 

Van der Meer, Jitse. University Publishing Association, 1996. 

Van der Meer, Jitse. . University Publishing Association, 1996. 

Van der Meer, Jiste.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.

Van der Meer, J. M. 鈥淚s There a Created Order for Cosmic Evolution in the Philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd?鈥 In edited by Gerrit Glas and Jeroen de Ridder, pp. 171-202. Berlin: Springer Verlag, 2017.

Van der Meer, J. M. 鈥淓uropean Calvinists and the Study of Nature: Some Historical Patterns and Problems,鈥  In edited by Gijsbert van den Brink & Harro H枚pfl, pp. 103-130. Dordrecht: Brill Academic Publishers, 2014.

Van der Meer, J. M. 鈥淪tratified Cosmic Order: Distinguishing Parts, Wholes, and Levels of Organization鈥 In edited by Jaume Navarro, pp. 145-164. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2011.

Van der Meer, J. M. 鈥淕eorges Cuvier and the Use of Scripture in Geology,鈥 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. 鈥淕od, Scripture, and the Rise of Modern Science (1200-1700): Notes in the Margin of Harrison鈥檚 Hypothesis.鈥 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. 鈥淭heodosius Dobzhansky: Nothing in Evolution Makes Sense Except in the Light of Religion.鈥 In , edited by Nicolaas Rupke, pp. 79-101. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2007.

Van der Meer, J. M. 鈥淩eading Nature in the Light of Scripture: the Case of Georges Cuvier (1769-1832).鈥 In , edited by K. van Berkel and A. Vanderjagt, pp. 181-193. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2006.

Van der Meer, J. M. 鈥淒e Biologie van Moreel Gedrag: Een Keuze Uit Feiten en Ficties.鈥 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. 鈥淚nterpreting Nature and Scripture: A New Proposal for their Interaction.鈥 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. 鈥淭he Actor in the Interaction of Science and Religion. An Application of Dooyeweerd鈥檚 Anthropology to the Study of Religion and Science Relations.鈥 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.

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. 鈥淎b Flipse, Christelijke wetenschap: Nederlandse rooms-katholieken en gereformeerden over de natuurwetenschap, 1880-1940.鈥 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. Review of Mark Harris. (Durham: Acumen, 2013). In ESSSAT Review 25, no. 4, pp. 24-27: 2015.

Van der Meer, J.M. 鈥淲el 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. 鈥淭he Deep Structure of Biology.鈥 In Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 62, no. 3, pp. 222-223: 2010.

Van der Meer, J.M. (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2007). In Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 60, no. 2, pp. 136-136: 2008.

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

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


Van der Meer, J.M. 鈥淢ichael Heller, The New Physics and a New Theology,鈥 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.