The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1890-09-25
A Time to Dance.

AS some of the young people of the
church, assisted by some of the older
ones, have made the dancing party the
order Of the night and to compose dis,
turbed conscience have referred US to
the language of theWise Man, ga time
to Dance" we have concluded to ex-
anime and see how much the passage
contains for their accommodation.
Popular thoughtand popular opinion
is neither law nor gospel, but the child
of habit and the child Of sin.
They tell US that the young mind
must have something to feed upon, and
must be entertained by occasions of
amusement; but is there not enough in
the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and in the life-work of a truly devoted
and consecrated child of God to en-
gage all the powers of the young
mind?
The mind should have wholesome
food, and every part Of our time should
be wisely and proftably spent. But
what about the time employed in dane
ing, and when is the proper time to
dance? In the very beginning we are
confronted with a difficulty in respect
to the time for dancing. Although the
text declares that there is a time to
dance. yet when that time is it does
not determine.
This point if possible should be set
tied, for it would be as criminal no
doubt to dance at the wrong time, as
to neglect to dance at the right time.
We shall all agree, I presume, that
there are times when it would be en-
tirely out of place to dance. We could
not suppose for moment that the Sab
bath day would be a suitable time to
dance, nor at the house appointed for
the dance, when one of the family is
very i'll, nor at funeral, nor while the
earth is rocking from quake, nor in a
thunderstorm. Nor would it be pro-
per to dance at the time of some gene
raj calamity.
But suppose the very day to be as
certained, is the whole day or only a
part of it to be devoted to this amuse-
ment, and if only a part, which part?
In the morning or in the afternoon?
Which part do you think would be the
proper time? For with the impression
made upon the mind with reference to
the evil effects of night meeting, no
one would pretend to say that the night
is the time to dance-the time referred
to in the text. But allowing the time
to be ascertained, be it in the morning,
afternoon or night, there is still an
other difficulty in the text.
Is the text command to dance, or
only a permission? .Or is it merely a
declaration of the fact that, as men are
constituted, there is time when all the
events alluded to do, in the providence
God, come to pass?
If the text be command. is it of
universal obligation,-and must old
men and maidens, young men and
children all dance in obedience to the
command? If a permission, does it
imply a permission to refrain from
dancing if we choose to do so? Or if it
is merely declaration that there is a
time when people will dance, and
when they do dance, as there is time
when people die, then we might as
we'll take the first eight verses of the
chapter and show in what consist the
evil of those practices of hating and
making war, and killing men, for
which it seems there is time as we'll
as a time to dance.
There is still another difficulty in the
text. We are not informed as to the
kind of dancing we should engage in.
1t is simply declared, "a time to
dance" If it is a custom to be in
dulged in, then it is certainly a matter
Of no small consequence to the true
Christian. We should know something
of the Scriptural manner as we'll as the
Scriptural time.
Now, to avoid mistakes in speaking
on this important subject, we have con-
suited quite number ofpassages in the
Bible which speak Of dancing, ao1ich
ace submit for general inspection:
Exodus, IS: 20: "And Miriam, the
prophecies, the sister of Aaron, took a
timbrel in her hand, and all the women
went out after her with timbrels and
with dances. This was on account of
the overthrow of the Egyptians in the
Red Sea-"
Judges, II: "a: 1.-THE daughter of
Jephtha came out to meet him with
timbrels and with Dances" This was
also because of a victory over the ene-
mics Of Israel. Judges, 81: 81. "The
yearly feast in Shiloh was a feast unto
the Lord, in which the daughters of
Shiloh went forth in Dances" This was
done as an act Of religious worship.
2 Sam. 6: IA, "And David danced be-
fore the Lord with all his might" In
the time of David dancing was a reli-
gious rite, and in extreme cases it was
a part of the Jewish services. lst Sam.
IS: 6, "On account of the victory of
Saul and David over the Philistines,
the women came out Of all the cities
of Israel singing and dancing" Psalm
1893, "Let them praise his name in the
dance" Psalm 3O:11, "Thou hast
turned for ME my mourning into dane
ing" The deliverance here spoken of
is recovery from sickness. and the