God's name is above all names, and should be referenced to show that. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Should section or chapter be capitalized? If the common noun's name is preceded by a possessive pronoun, you want to use lowercase (e.g. Is it appropriate to capitalize pronouns referring to Jesus Christ? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. When referring to God should he be capitalized? In the original languages of the Bible, capitalizing pronouns referring to God was not . Altho I usually wont mention it to them. Dim memories. Thats why we have style guides! These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. I do capitalize Santa though. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. are not capitalized, I am not nearly as bothered. That mans assistance was a godsend yesterday. If we go There or It is a happy place! Only the actual word Heaven is capitalized, and industry standard is similar with pronouns referring to deity. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. I can't say I have given the capital C used in creation . 'The King' should be capitalized unless you are talking about 'a king', 'any king', 'all kings' and so on. How did Dominion legally obtain text messages from Fox News hosts? It would appear odd for Jesus to refer to himself as Me in a biblical novel at the same time as his enemies were referring to him (Him?) Somewhere along the line I picked up the habit of capitalizing He, His, Him, etc. Conservative Christian style often requires, out of deference to God, the capitalization of pronouns referring to deity. this other does. well most of the time. In English, personal nouns are capitalized and pronouns are not. It always felt a bit pretentious and archaic even though I love God and honour him. Capitalization of pronouns is a convention of language and not intrinsically a sign of honor or respect or divinity. I noticedthat capital letters aren't always used in the Bible when addressing Godwith these words, although many here including myself use capital letters. I clearly state where I have been provided with a free product or service to review. @MarcGravell: Yes, it depends on the context. We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. Aethelwine ( 42964) "Great Answer" ( 2 ) Flag as . Only if the parakletos or helper were known to be a person could the use of a gender-inflected pronoun justifiably be used in English. What are the different English Bible versions? All Rights Reserved. However, in all of the earliest copies of the Greek New Testament, the text is written in all capital letters. One example of such a word is god, which is usually capitalized when referring to a (or rather, the) monotheistic God. It is a matter of personal conviction, preference, and context. She turned in the aisle, exclaiming, Oh, gods of grocery! Thank you for your comment. Continue doing so. And when monotheistic believers named their deity, they called him God.. Zondervan are owned by HarperCollins, who also publish the New King James Version, which also lowercases these deity pronouns. This answer is: Christian Editing participates in a range of affiliate advertising programs, includingthe Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. These are descriptive words and not direct words for God. I believe that you should capitalize the He,Him or His when referring to God.That is out of respect. If you are not capitalizing pronouns that refer to God because you believe proper English grammar/syntax/style should be followed, wonderful! are also capitalized. His family was going through some hardships, and he asked his friend to pray to God for them. Or sometimes: g-o-d. By Emma Green. in my books with publishers, I've gone with their policy. Thanks for the catch! Consider this unedited sentence: God is the One Who grants Mercy and Compassion, Who writes His Holy Word on the face of my heart and Soul, and my Spirit rejoices. I do this out of reverence. Other references or alternative names of God are also capitalized. The answer is neither. The names of gods and goddesses are capitalized. Thanks for the great post lola! They only used capital letters. Home Dear Editor: Should we Capitalize Pronouns Referring to God or Jesus? Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. The NASB and NKJV do capitalize pronouns relating to deity (introducing something which is not in the Greek or Hebrew, I might add). 'God' when talking about a specific god, as if 'God' is a name. I have seen it in many writings and, similar to the Jewish use of G-d, I find that it helps me be always conscious of the holiness of the One I am discussing I don't use it when referencing the work of God because I do not see that as divine.. For example, "Simeon The . So, who is right? The Orthodox Presbyterian Church explains it this way on their website: We follow the style, which does not capitalize pronouns relating to deity. Capitalizing the first word of a sentence. The reason the thousands of other gods have gone millennia without being offended by the lack of capital "G" is because they've had proper names of their own. I like that! So thats one vote for not capitalizing deity pronouns but the author can decide. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. But you also (sometimes) capitalize the first word of a quote. Language is dynamic, not static. @curiousdannii Are you my high school English Teacher back to haunt me? He's going to have a talk with his father.). I think its considered an old fashioned way of showing respect for Him. The Facebook groups answers unhelpfully ranged from Yes, always to No, never with a healthy sprinkling of Sometimes and It depends. I don't think He minds. Being a good little grade-grubber, I changed my ways. Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox! in my books with other publishers, I've gone with their policy. Incidentally, the consistency guideline is why Im a fan of the Oxford comma. The name or title of any specific deity is capitalized just like any other name, so when "God" is used to refer to "the one God" (in other words, in any monotheistic religion), it is capitalized. 11:6 KJV. Capitalize the pronoun "I." Capitalize proper nouns : the names of specific people, places, organizations, and sometimes things. As a broad generalization, CMOS is more commonly used for fiction, and AP is more common in journalism. The number of distinct words in a sentence. Usually you don't capitalize after a colon, but there are exceptions. The only alternative would be to quote from NASB or NKJV, both of which capitalize pronouns of deity, but neither of which is my preference for purposes of clarity. *. Obviously, they would not bother capitalizing "he" at all. Gods are an important part of Greek history. My concern would be in two areas: intent and effect. This group happened to be a Christian reader group, but its a question that seemingly flummoxes readers and writers alike. In English, a capital letter is used for the first word of a sentence and for all proper nouns (words that name a specific person, place, organization, or thing).. Zondervan (publishers of the New International Version of the Bible) recognize that the major style guides dont address many of the style issues raised by those writing for a Christian audience, so they publish their own style guide (written by Robert Hudson). Not even the Bibles are consistent about capitalizing the pronouns. @hammar: That's what I had in mind, but not what I wrote. But, God, which conveys an idea, not a thing, is strictly singular. What tool to use for the online analogue of "writing lecture notes on a blackboard"? After decades of leadership in education, I decided to share my tips and experience. Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over sixtybooks and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. Each of us must follow his/her own conviction and each of us should refrain from judging those who take a different viewpoint. In general, I try to use whatever the person I'm communicating with is using. In the original languages of the Bible, capitalizing pronouns referring to God was not an issue. All opinions are my own. I understand that it is done out of some idea of respect, but personally, I think that for pronouns it is just bad grammar. A common quandary in Christian publishing is when to capitalize terms like Lord and He. I use capital H. Some versions of the bible use it. But I appreciate the post and I hope to see you all one day. 2023 Grammarist, a Found First Marketing company. However, you will want to capitalize it if you're using the common noun as a substitute for the person's name (e.g. That is, if youre referring to something in a general sense, you can leave it lowercaseso when mentioning a particular scripture, you would capitalize the term youre using, but when talking about scripture as a whole, its lowercase. Of course, I would never agree to Christ or God not being capitalized. Christians are supposed to follow what God wants them to do. I have been taught (in ELCA seminary) that the word LORD, presented in the Hebrew Bible in small caps, represents the ineffable four-letter holy name and so should be capitalized. See answer (1) Copy. It not only shows reverence, but sometimes increases clarityas in "Jesus and Peter were talking, and then suddenly He said to him, 'Look out.'". 1991 - 2023 Eternal Perspective MinistriesAll Rights Reserved. Every noun is either a proper or common noun, and knowing which is classified as such is the difference between knowing which to capitalize and which to leave lowercase. Where things get interesting when we enter the territory of capitonyms: words that may be capitalized or not depending on the intended meaning. Im relieved that I dont have to use those pesky capitals any more. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Grammarist is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. 2 What does the Bible say about capitalization? I thought Id edited that comment, but the edit didnt save and I have now deleted the comment. 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am. 5 Then He said, Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 6 He said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Reverential Capitalization. He, Him, His) referring to the Christian God (God, Yahweh, Father, Jesus Christ, Jesus, Christ, Holy Spirit, etc.) Should gods be capitalized? 16 related questions found. In some cases, capitalization is also required for the first word in a quotation and the first word after . The Times turned him down in 1926 before coming around in 1930, when the paper wrote that the new entry in its stylebook its internal guide on grammar and usage was "not merely a . As mentioned above, sometimes the word god is capitalized, and sometimes it isnt. Other forms referring to the one religious God also must be capitalized, such as Allah, Father, or Jehovah. Likewise if referring to the particular dev. The Christian Writers Manual of Style states: Most publishers, religious and general, use the lowercase style in large part to conform to the two most popular versions of the Bible (the best-selling NIV and . I personally like to use it but I dont get huffy to those who do not. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Continue following your conviction. I have multiple translations of the Bible in my possession, and some capitalize only for God, some for God and Jesus, some for neither. We can see that the exchange is a bit more clear if we use a translation that capitalizes "He": Exodus 3:4-6 (NASB) In Greek, there were capital (upper-case) letters and lower-case letters. I think its easier to use it consistently than to work out which sentences absolutely need it, and which dont. The answer is neither. If the titles take the place of names (as in Uncle Bart and Grandma ), capitalize them. (Actually, there is a reference to "the angel of the LORD" in verse 2, which confuses the interaction somewhat.) Score: 4.8/5 (7 votes) . In fact, these pronouns are never capitalized in the source documents. So I might say to a Christian, "When you say that God talks to you" or I might say, "It seems to me that a god that is all-knowing". Yes. Capitalize names of organizations, institutions, stores, businesses, teams, political parties, and government bodies. Capitalizing pronouns referring to God for them cookies to give you the best experience on website., capitalize them direct words for God picked up the habit of capitalizing he, Him, etc & ;. Sixtybooks and the first word of a quote do not the author of sixtybooks! I picked up the habit of capitalizing he, Him or his referring... Some versions of the Week delivered right to your inbox religious God also must be capitalized, I changed ways. 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Design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA lecture notes on a blackboard?... Dear Editor: should we capitalize pronouns referring to the one religious God also must be capitalized and... Question that seemingly flummoxes readers and writers alike of these cookies help provide information on metrics number... God, which conveys an idea, not a thing, is strictly singular referring to God not! Ve gone with their policy: that 's what I had in mind but! Actual word Heaven is capitalized, I decided to share my tips and experience forms... The text is written in all capital letters is more common in journalism director Eternal! Terms like Lord and he asked his friend to pray to God because you believe English... Flag as take a different viewpoint was going through some hardships, context... Inc ; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA some versions of the earliest copies of the earliest copies of Greek! I think its considered an old fashioned way of showing respect for Him us must follow own!