Morning journal and courier., 1883-02-16

! citation, parts of our nature which need to be restrained and kept under watch and I guard. In word, that those who indulge in
 practices which feed and rouse certain of
 the propensities are tempting the devil to tempt them.'' l Your correspondent says tfIt is sad fact
 when ministers speaking professedly for
 Christ utter year after year opinions l which multitudes of good men and women T cannot accept as correct and wise. It inevit-
 ably detracts from their influence as teach CTS. It has been and is potent factor in the decline of ministerial influence. The I pulpit, forced by the common sense of the people, has had to recede from many posi- tlons unwisely taken. It cannot afford to be driven to much further retreats" etc., etc.
 When he says these things another question
 asks Itself, which is not so much, Why does he put such utterances over an impersonal signature but, Is he really 'tA Oongrega-
 tlonaI Pastor" at all, and not rather quite
 another sort of body striking from behind mask? But waiving this query, and assum- ing good faith, will he please to tell us l. Whether dancing, card playing, opera and theatre going are worldly amusements &C.,,
 cording to his understanding of Rom. 1922
 and if not, whether there are any such and 1 if so, give us the names of few?
 1 (2.) In his judgment will those who are 1 transformed by the renewing of their minds, :" and thereby enabled to ''prove what IS that good and acceptable and perfect will
 of God" be for that cause more or less likely to participate in and enjoy the dance, the | theatre, etc. /?
 (3.) s'Thirty years ago. says GA Congre- 1 gational Pastor" quoting Mir. Baldwin 'Fthere i were many Christian families *
 who thought dancing and card playing nec- 1 essarlly wrong; there are few such now" l This is said to be largely true of the leading Congregational churches of New England.' 1 Will he please inform us whether there has or has not been relative increase of di-
 vorces over marriages for the same period
 both in and out of the churches? In this | connection I will say that in residence of
 less than two years in Connecticut evidence | has come to me that the two things are not
 unrelated.
 l 4) Finally, will he inform us what has
 been the ratio of yearly increase in the mem- l bership of the leading Congregational church- | es Of New England since the views of Prof.
 B. and himself have obtained in them, as
 compared with previous exhibits?
 s. M. HAMMOND. Duty in PIeasure-Ought the Christian to Dance.
 To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER: Permit a suggestion or two concerning this all-absorbing topic of amusement, especially
 relating to dancing. There have been ex- 1 treme views presented on both sides, and very strong statements made, which we fear will 1 not help to solve this question of diverse opinion. Truth should be made very plain
 and pointed, but exaggerated statements of it never help, but hinder it's advancement. Somebody has said ''Truth half told is falsehood." So is it likely to be when un- 1 told. In it's statement, especially on practi-
 cal subjects, there should always be candor
 and broad charity. While clinging to the 11,a of education and conviction as fact in hu-
 man life. Hence with different moral per 1 ception the same act may be consciously wrong with one and approved by. another. We must not judge the motives of all by the act performed as we view it, and yet general principles affecting all alike should be clearly
 taught.
 As to the Christians relation to dancing are we not to decide it by the spirit it repre-
 sents rather than the act itself :? What is it's object? What spirit does it represent and l cultivate? In the Bible dancing is recog- | nized, CD as an act of religious worship. "David danced before the Lord" ''Let them praise Him in the dance." CD As 8 social
 amusement in it's purpose and association entirely worldly: But when Herod's birth
 day was kept the daughter of Herodias danced before them," and as an outgrowth of it 1 John the Baptist was beheaded. The spirit associate i'd with it then was certainly anything l but religious. The dance of modern society ! is not for religious purposes at all, but is 8 social amusement with no reference to spir- | itual expression. It's surroundings are widely l different of course, from the most glaring immortality to the quiet family circle. Again, it must be granted by all that 1 times change and the relations of Christian experience to certain facts in life are very different from what they were once, though l underlying principles are ever the same. There is reason for this, generally found either in the changed surroundings of the habit or act, or the different character and demand of social life Is dancing to be judged of in this way, and from the ban of the church to be recsived under it's approv- al? Is it's character different or it's sur | roundings, or the demand of social life such | as to warrant it's introduction into the church? In suggestively answering this question, please note few facts, which we trust will commend themselves to all candid inquirers.
 First, Christianity embodied in human ex- perience is something more than formal profession of faith or intellectual acceptance l of truth It is living principle, new life spiritual power. In this grand old city of New Haven, with it's scholastic privileges and culture, Cnclined, it seems to me, to intel l lectuaIize too much in religious matters, we | must not forget this fact. Christian expe | rience implies radical change, new divine | life implanted within, for with the Christian | told things are passed away, behold all l things are become new" Hence, whatever | will help cultivate and develop this new life | is to the Christian, individually, proper. 1 Whatever will hinder it's growth, deadening | the spiritual and increasing the worldly, is | wrong. The Bible says Glove not the | world, neither the things that are in the | world. If any man love the world the love | of the Father is not in him. Now, with | judicious interpretation of that we must ap- | ply it to our life and be governed by it, for | it is Gods word. The question of the prop CT relation of dancing to Christian life | should be decided then not in the heat of de- | bate or formal discussion, but with an open | Bible full of living truth, and with the heart | yearning after Gods love and growth in grace and fitness for Christian work. Dr. | Hawes in his excellent sermon we'll suggests | that the practice of dancing tends to unfit | one for earnest Christian work, and increase | the difficulties of winning souls to Christ. - (2) The relation of the Christian to the | whole question of amusements is changed | necessarily He recognizes the fact that | there are proper amusements and proper | sphere for them, but he does not crave them | nor depend upon them for pleasure, for he | has well spring of joy in his own heart. As means sometimes of necessary physical | recreation, or to please iu home life the little | ones and make their lives more happy, he | engages in it perhaps, but the demand for amusement for it's own sake certainly is very different with him from that of the world ling.
 13.) Those who are deeply spiritual, (we do not mean enthusiastic lobbyists, but har- noniously developed, devoted Christians) whose hearts, aglow with Christ's love, are ever ready to lead inquiring penitents to the Saviour, do not engage ia dancing nor do they have any inclination for it. Their Christian experience and work lead their thought and desire in other channels. Is this not so, and if so is it not an instructive fact? Whence comes the demand for this amusement in the church? Is it from those who are the ex- ponents of living, growing Christian expe- rienoe or those who depend for their enjoy ment not upon indwelling grace and earnest work for Christ but upon the world
 (4.) There are persons, not few, who, pre- viousfy accustomed to and fascinated by the dance, when converted have lost all desire for it, and feel deeply the inconsistency of | it's practice. They have no love for it or in- clination towards it, and yet are genuine Christians, full of charity and joy. Why not?