Of all the literary put downs aimed at Calvinism, H. L. Mencken's was arguably the best. Of course, Mark Twain's rendition of Calvinist preaching and Sabbatarian severity in The Adventures of Huck Finn captured well the defect that has tarnished John Calvin's reputation ever since his birth a half millennium ago. According to Huck's description of a Presbyterian worship service:
"It was pretty or-nery preaching, but everybody said it was a good sermon, and they all talked it over going home, and had such a powerful lot to say ...
