**BERRUYIER, Isaac-Joseph.** - Biblical scholar, born in Rouen on 7 Nov. 1681, entered the Society of Jesus at an early age, died in Paris on 18 Feb. 1758. Desiring to promote the study of biblical history, he composed a *Histoire du Peuple de Dieu depuis son origine jusqu'à la venue du Messie, tirée des seuls Livres Saints* (Paris 1728).
His paradoxical exegesis, which contradicted tradition in many points, incurred the condemnation of the Church (6 May 1734). The two following volumes, published perhaps after the author’s death, intensified the controversy, particularly through the efforts of the Jansenists who accused him of Nestorianism and Socinianism, and were placed on the Index by Benedict XIV (1755) and Clement XIII (1758). The work, however, spread widely, even in an Italian translation (against which Benedict XIV issued a severe condemnatory brief on 17 Feb. 1758).
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