Mencken's Americana

My favorite proof of the Christian Bible’s divine provenance.

Mortal man never wrote the Bible. A good man could not have written the Bible and, a bad man would not have written it if he could. A good man could not have written it because the Bible tells us 2008 times that God Himself is the author; therefore, is man wrote the Bible is his a great liar, and, therefore, was not a good man. A bad man would not have written the bible if he could, because it tells him what he is and that isn’t wanting to believe, because if he did he could not sleep at night as long as he remained unsaved and unrepentant.

From H.L. Mencken’s Americana 1925, probably the book I’ve had longest in my possession (my name is stamped in the book, a habit I broke myself of many years ago).

The American Mercury’s ”Americana” section consisted of clippings from readers of public notices, letters to newspapers, the sayings and doings of ordinary folks. For me it is a perpetual confirmation that much of what the average person thinks if honestly expressed wouldn’t seem merely fatuous but unhinged.

Today my belated birthday present to myself arrived: Mencken’s Americana edited by Louis Hatchett.