When I got married in 2016 at our Baptist Church, there was a lot of jokes about dancing, specifically the sinful aspects of it- "a vertical motion of sin."- as it was sometimes called.
I was a new-ish Christian (having been saved for about four years), and I can remember at the time being quite shocked that dancing was ever considered a sin.
You see, I grew up going to an Art School for my Middle school and Highschool years, and while there I had the opportunity to explore various art forms, including DANCE. As a student, I took two years of modern dance. I learned the positions: first, second, third, etc. I learned my tendu's and plié's. And I learned why dance was and will forever be considered an Art-Form deserving our respect. For those interested, google Twyla Tharp and her work--- such inspiration!
In the end, needless to say, my wife and I chose to dance at our wedding, and we had a wonderful time.
What's funny about all this, is that Jacob Arminius was opposed to dancing--- He'd probably call me to repent, to be honest. Even funnier, is the fact that Petrus Plancius, despite his disagreements with the interpretation of Romans 7 and 9, agreed with Arminius on this very issue. As noted by Carl Bangs: "Whatever differences Arminius and Plancius may have had, they did not necessarily disagree about everything, and they often worked together. On the question of dancing they apparently agreed: they were against it. The courageous Baptista Oyens, who had dared to say that dancing was only a "very small sin," was the object of their joint pastoral care on at least two occasions in 1602. The visits were unsatisfactory, at least to the ministers." (Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation, 155).
Well Arminius, I guess this is another thing I disagree with you on. Dancing is not a sin, however. Not even a little sin, as Oyens put it. It may have been viewed differently in your lifetime, but the rigidity of your stance failed to capture it as an art--- whose form could be used to honor God.
Let them praise his name with Dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp -Psalm 149:3
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