Capitalize Pronouns for God

[houston1]

When writing an article or other document, must one capitalize all the pronouns representing God or Jesus? Is there an official stance on this?

Thanks for your help.

houston1

 

[RedDuke50]

I don’t think there is an official stance on it, but I surely do enjoy capitalizing the pronouns for God because I think it honors Him in some way. But that is my personal preference. You can if you wish but it isn’t necessary or anything.

 

[CMatt25]

I don’t think there is an official stance on it, but I surely do enjoy capitalizing the pronouns for God because I think it honors Him in some way. But that is my personal preference. You can if you wish but it isn’t necessary or anything.

I always try to do it too out of honor.

 

[houston1]

Thanks for your replies. I agree that it shows a sign of respect to our Lord. I think I’ll go with that!

 

[adrift]

In the 1950’s we were taught to Capitalize but in recent years that seems to be dropped. I hate reading my bible and seeing them not capitalized.

 

[J_Peterson]

Funny I was just thinking of this this morning when I noticed that the pronouns for God aren’t capitalized in the book I’m reading (“A Biblical Walk Though the Mass” by Edward Sri).

I like it because it honors Him but also, it makes it clear Who we are talking about. For instance if I say “I believe in Truth”, you know I mean God where as “I believe in truth” can mean anything or nothing at all.

 

[Todd_Easton]

Though not entirely consistent, the Catechism of the Catholic Church typically does not capitalize pronouns for God or Jesus Christ.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I tend to capitalize He/Him for God, but for Jesus I sometimes find myself using he/him because it reminds me how, out of love, he humbled himself to become like man in every way except sin.

 

[COPLAND_3]

I always try to capitalize them. I have found that it not only honors God but it can also clarify a phrase when there is alot of action that is taking place between God and others in which a lot of pronouns are being used. It helps to keep up with who is doing what.

 

[COPLAND_3]

By the way i recalled Fr. Benedict Grochel talking about this one time, saying that editor and publishers often don’t capitalize them, and they usually will “correct” the manuscript of the authors as they edit. So basically a Catholic writer may have originally capitilized pronouns but the publishers have changed it. Not out of being in opposition, but simple protocol.

 

[Cristiano]

In the 1950’s we were taught to Capitalize but in recent years that seems to be dropped. I hate reading my bible and seeing them not capitalized.

Maybe you should stop reading your bible and start reading a Bible.

 

[Oldtimer_7]

First of all, in both Hebrew and Greek, there is no such thing as a capital. In Greek there are magiscule and miniscule scripts, but they were never mixed. Capitalization seems to be a modern English affectation In the KJV-1611, of which I have a facsimile copy, the capitalization follows the German rules of capitalization, where all nouns are capitalized. Pronouns were not capitalized. Does anyone have a facsimile of the original Douay-Rheims to check how it was done there?

 

[thistle]

First of all, in both Hebrew and Greek, there is no such thing as a capital. In Greek there are magiscule and miniscule scripts, but they were never mixed. Capitalization seems to be a modern English affectation In the KJV-1611, of which I have a facsimile copy, the capitalization follows the German rules of capitalization, where all nouns are capitalized. Pronouns were not capitalized. Does anyone have a facsimile of the original Douay-Rheims to check how it was done there?

At least on the cover there are words with higher and lower case letters.

churchlatin.com/douayrheims.aspx

 

[Bezant]

When writing an article or other document, must one capitalize all the pronouns representing God or Jesus? Is there an official stance on this?

Thanks for your help.

houston1

That’s the done thing. God I’m sure doesn’t care less, but we grammar snobs do.

 

[Link0126]

I think I prefer not to simply b/c it looks better on the page and not as messy when reading. Also the Church does not do this in official writings. So I don’t feel bad.

 

[Razanir]

I always try to do it too out of honor.

Thanks for your replies. I agree that it shows a sign of respect to our Lord. I think I’ll go with that!

I’m not saying we shouldn’t capitalize pronouns, but we can actually be informal with God. It’s a misconception nowadays that “thou” is a formal pronoun because we only ever use it in prayer anymore. He’s our heavenly Father, and just like we can be informal with our earthly families, so too can we with God.

I think I prefer not to simply b/c it looks better on the page and not as messy when reading. Also the Church does not do this in official writings. So I don’t feel bad.

Meh. I know German. All Nouns on a Page being capitalized looks fine to me.