Anecdotes from Church History: Part 1

by R.A. Miller
Published October 8th, 2022.

I have recently been doing some research on A.A. Hodge, and I came across the following story in several newspapers. The earliest date that I found this published in newspaper archives was December 31st, 1886, via The Sun (New York). I have found different accounts of this story published in newspapers as late as 1892. It reads as follows:

The recent death of Dr. Archibald A. Hodge recalls this anecdote illustrating his methods in the class rooms: Once while he was a professor in the theological seminary he asked a student for a definition of eternity. The student need not have been ashamed to confess his inability to answer that question, but after some hesitation, he replied that he used to know the definition but had forgotten it. "Oh, my, my, my!' exclaimed Dr. Hodge, bringing his hand down forcibly upon the table. ''What a calamity! The only man in the universe that ever knew what eternity is has forgotten."

Source: The Sun, December 31, 1886, as seen here.