Pronoun Capitalization

[MindForgedManacle]

It doesn't really make much sense. Especially since God actually has other names and titles he goes by.

Usually those are capitalized too, e.g. Almighty.

And that's kind of nonsensical too, as I said. Might as well just call him Yahweh, for all the sense the other titles make.

[Cyberman]

"God" written with a small "g" allows you to pluralize the word by putting an "s" at the end and thus turning it into "gods."

But when you write "God," it is always going to represent something single; you can't pluralize it. And respectively, monotheism teaches that there is only one god, not more than one.

That might be one of the reasons for using a capital "g" in "God."

That's why, when I have to refer to the YHWH character, I tend to use scare quotes to depict my opinion of it being a fictional character, unless doing so would be confusing (ie "God"'s will just looks horrible - in every sense, actually). I notice several others do the same so hopefully I'm doing something right. Unless I've started another trend, of course.

[Faith No More]

Whenever this topic comes up, I think of this song...

[Lion IRC]

I think capitalization is a sign that you are formally referring to someone or something specific like a personal name or place.

...after giving the gettysberg address, the president the united states of america, abraham lincoln visited washington dc and saw the declaration of independence

...later in the second inaugural address lincoln mentioned it was strange to ask a just god's assistance when folk read the same bible and pray to the same god, and each invokes his aid against the other.

[max-greece]

The worst one to me is... Truth.

Truth is just a noun. Quit capitalizing it and just use the word Jesus, since that's what you really mean.

Yup - that's bad but TRVTH is worse. Gets popular around Easter time when Quo Vadis is on the TV.

[Godscreated]

Christians: why do you capitalize pronouns and other types of words when referring to your god?

I ask, because it feels like I'm hearing a sermon when I read writing stylized that way.

I do it so others will not mistake whom I am speaking of.

GC

[Angrboda]

I made an ass of myself in a philosophy group discussion by forgetting that all nouns are capitalized in German. The question doesn't make much sense once you leave the idioms and lexicography of the romance languages, and it's likely the tradition stems from early editorial decisions concerning the Latin translation of the Koine Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. (The bible gateway has Koine Greek translations with capitalization, but they are all too late to bear testimony to whether the original autographs would have observed such conventions; I rather doubt it.) I'd have to look at a range of examples through time to see if and when the practice began in any of these languages (as well as the early Syriac forks of the text, and exemplars such as the Samaritan bible, the didache and diatessoron, and pseudoepigraphia both within Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition, and outside of it. (Ask pineapplebunnybounce about the names of 'God' in Chinese sometime, and know that when you unwind those terms across the ages back to their roots in the Spring and Autumn period, it just gets absurdly silly.) I suspect, without researching it, that the capitalization just reflects some early editorial decisions by the church fathers, and that the explanations given here are analogous to folk etymologies. It's a strange practice when you realize that the only people at the time who would be aware of the practice were specialists who needed no help in their own minds, and yet provided no signal in word or sound to the ignorant masses over which the recitation of these holies was deemed to be effective for salvation.

[Jacob(smooth)]

Also, my predictive text capitalises God.

But not atheist .

Ha! Checkmate atheists ;-)

[LostLocke]

If capitalizing random nouns and pronouns gives it more weight, I say from now we use Science.

As in, Science!

As in.....

[Upside Down Dog]

Because it's an English rule.

IIRC, I think it's been changed, though. Not sure.