quote · Legacy record
I have heard them preach, when I sat in the pew and my feet did not touch the floor, about the final home of the unconverted. In order to impress upon the children the length of time they would probably stay if they settled in that country, the preacher would frequently give us the following illustration: 'Suppose that once in a billion years a bird should come from some far-distant planet, and carry off in its little bill a grain of sand, a time would finally come when the last atom composing this earth would be carried away; and when this last atom was taken, it would not even be sun up in hell.' Think of such an infamous doctrine being taught to children!
I have heard them preach, when I sat in the pew and my feet did not touch the floor, about the final home of the unconverted. In order to impress upon the children the length of time they would probably stay if they settled in that country, the preacher would frequently give us the following illustration: 'Suppose that once in a billion years a bird should come from some far-distant planet, and carry off in its little bill a grain of sand, a time would finally come when the last atom composing this earth would be carried away; and when this last atom was taken, it would not even be sun up in hell.' Think of such an infamous doctrine being taught to children!
Approximate author period: c. 1866 AD · industrial
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- Author or tradition
- Robert G. Ingersoll
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1866 AD · industrial
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1833 to 1899; Wikidata Q469882, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q469882 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 147457; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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