Lewis James Heatwole

“ We believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, that He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin—the perfect God-man; that He was without sin, the divinely appointed substitute and representative of sinful man, paying the penalty for man's sins by His death on the cross, making the only adequate atonement for sin by the shedding of His blood, thus reconciling man to God ”

“ We believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ and in the bodily resurrection of all men, both of the just and the unjust of the just to the resurrection of life, and of the unjust to the resurrection of condemnation. ”

“ We believe that is is the privilege of all believers to know that they have passed from death unto life; that God is able to keep them from falling, but that the obedience of faith is essential to the maintenance of one's salvation and growth in grace. ”

“ We believe that hell is the place of torment, prepared for the devil and his angels, where with them the wicked will suffer the vengeance of eternal fire forever and ever and that heaven is the final abode of the righteous, where they will dwell in the fullness of joy forever and ever. ”

“ We believe that we are called with a holy calling to a life of separation from the world and its follies, sinful practices and methods; further that it is the duty of the Church to keep herself aloof from all movements which seek the reformation of society, independent of the merits of the death of Christ and the experience of the new birth. ”

“ We believe that Christian baptism should be administered upon confession of faith; tha*t the Lord's Supper should be observed as a memorial of His death by those of like precious faith who have peace with God; that feetwashing as an ordinance should be literally observed by all believers; that Christian women praying or prophesying should have their heads covered; that the salutation of the holy kiss should be duly and appropriately observed by all believers; that anointing with oil should be administered to the sick who call for it in faith ”

“ We believe that in the interval between death and resurrection, the righteous will be with Christ in a state of conscious bliss and comfort, but that the wicked will be in a place of torment, in a state of conscious suffering and despair. ”

“ The wave of Modernism which has engulfed so many churches and institutions of learning has not failed to leave its impress upon certain classes in the Mennonite Church.
Twenty years ago, or more, it began to be evident that there were certain educational leaders, then members of the Mennonite Church, who had imbibed the idea that our doctrinal creed and methods of government had become obsolete and out of date to such a degree that the entire fabric needed reconstruction. ”

“ We believe that man was created by an immediate act of God, in His own image and after His likeness; that by one act of disobedience he became sinful in his nature, spiritually dead, subject to physical death and to the power of the devil, from which fallen condition he was unable to save himself. ”

“ We believe that all Christians should honor, pray for, pay tribute to, and obey in all things those who are in authority in state and nation, provided however, that should instances arise in which such obedience would violate the higher law of God, "we ought to obey God rather than man," that Church and State are separate, and while believers are to be subject to, they are not a part of the civil, administrative powers ”

“ We believe in the personal, imminent coming of our Lord as the blessed hope of the believer, that we who are alive and remain, together with the dead in Christ, who will first be raised, shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and thus ever be with the Lord. ”

“ We believe that the latter days will be characterized by general lawlessness and departure from the faith; that on the part of the world "iniquity shall abound" and "evil men shall wax worse and worse;" that on the part of the Church there will be a falling away and "the love of many shall wax cold;" that false teachers shall abound, both deceiving and being deceived ”

“ That further inroads upon our young people's faith and life might be prevented, the Mennonite Board of Education became more alert, adopted more drastic measures, until the official roster and faculty of Goshen College was reformed to conform more nearly to the standards of the Church. ”