| Show A BANGING CREED The Rev Joseph Hemphill of San Francisco perhaps the ablest Presbyterian minister on the Pacific coast lately delivered some discourses dis-courses on dancing which called forth the admiration of the worldly newspapers but did not meet the approval of the pious Christians who must necessarily look upon I the light fantastic toe exercise as sinful The sermons have aroused a breezy discussion in the press one class of critics maintaining that dancing is unmistakably and absolutely abso-lutely wicked without redeeming features and as a necessary consequence conse-quence Mr Hemphill was drifting into dangerous paths when he suggested sug-gested that the practice in itself was not bad but on the contrary was to be commended under certain cer-tain circumstances Others took up the argument on the side of the dance claiming that the practice prac-tice was physically a good thing and morally there was nothing wrong in it The discussion has finally brought Mr Hemphill out with his dancing platform from which it will be seen that while he has views on the exercise people may dance or refrain from it as they prefer without doing violence to any religious re-ligious principle It is clear that the reverend gentlemans congregation congrega-tion is made up of people who dance and of those who do not and Mr Hemphill doesnt propose that anybody any-body shall be driven out of the church on his account Here is his dancing creed Pirst That dancing consists in keeping keep-ing time to music with the feet while said feet are lupportiug the body Second That dancing per se is not sinful ThirdThat the Scriptures neither approve ap-prove nor disapprove dancing FourthThat history leaves the question ques-tion of dancing as open SB the Bible doee I Fifth That the standards of the Presbyterian I Pres-byterian church leave the question of dancing as open as history and the Bible do doBiith That dancing like human I speech thought or act may assume a sinful form or be turned into a sinful channel SeventhThat dancing in overheated rooms and at late hours is a violation of the laws of health and consequently sinful sin-ful Eighth That dancing in public halls and in promiscuous assemblies tends to lead young people into evil society and ways of wrongdoing NinthThat as dancing has always been it will always continue to be in some form or other TenthThat the dance can only be purified by purifying the hearts of the individuals who take part in it i Eleventh That the Christian conscience consci-ence is the proper standard by which to judge the morality of dancing TwelfthThat if in any age or place dancing assume evil form or be turned into wrong channel it ifl the duty of the individual Christian to refrain from dancing ThirteenthThat as dancing ie not compulsory and as the moral risks are greater on the side of dancing than on the side of no dancing it is always safer for the Christian to refrain from dancing |
