Moise Amyraut (1596-1664), a French pastor, theologian and professor at the Academy of Saumur in France. No sooner had the Arminian heresy been refuted at Dordt when a new heresy arose, more subtle than the last. Amyraut attempted to reconcile these two contradictory ideas -- that God wants everyone to be saved, yet He has only purposed for those chosen in Christ to be saved. Many orthodox Protestants in France tried to organise a Synod at which this heresy would be condemned but this was to no avail. Some displaced Arminians (who had been ejected from the Netherlands after the Synod of Dordt) had already been permitted to join the church in Paris whilst retaining their heretical views, even though the conclusion of the Synod of Dordt was binding on Ministers. With such weakness and liberality, the heresy spread. The excuse is that, in France, the Reformed faith was barely tolerated and the Protestants could not afford division in the church. Although the Helvetic Consensus ! creed of 1675 was written specifically against this heresy in Switzerland, Amyraldianism remains a solemn example of what happens when the body of Christ refuses to separate from false doctrine. The leaven was allowed to spread and it appears to be leavening the whole lump; many professing Calvinists today actually affirm the teachings of Moses Amyraut, such as John Piper; the Banner of Truth publishing trust has also become infected. If they do not do so openly by stating there are two conflicting
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