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On the Body and Liturgical Practices

Why Don’t Presbyterians Dance in Worship?
  • Erik W. Dailey

    Prof. Dr. Erik Dailey ist Affiliate Professor of Theology and Culture am Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, Kalifornien, und Pastor der St. James Presbyterian Church in Tarzana, Kalifornien.

Published/Copyright: July 9, 2025
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Abstract

The Bible has little to say about dancing, and different denominational traditions have developed various forms of dancing or other bodily expressions of spiritual experience in worship. Generally, however, dance plays no role in spirituality. While Christians throughout the times did engage in secular dancing, they rarely danced in worship. The article explores the roots of this development, finding them in Neoplatonic philosophy and the Enlightenment’s preference for the rational over the emotional.


Article note

A slightly extended version of this article was first published in StLi 45.1 (2015), 93–109.


Über den Autor / die Autorin

Erik W. Dailey

Prof. Dr. Erik Dailey ist Affiliate Professor of Theology and Culture am Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, Kalifornien, und Pastor der St. James Presbyterian Church in Tarzana, Kalifornien.

Online erschienen: 2025-07-09
Erschienen im Druck: 2025-07-07

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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