Lower case spelling for God pronouns

[EasterJoy]

I could be mistaken, (often I am ) but I believe the papal prohibition about the name YHWH was confined to liturgical situations.

The point is, not even the Jews could tell you how the Divine Name is pronounced, because they never say it. As far as I know, only time it ever was pronounced was by the high priest, who did so alone within the Holy of Holies of the Temple on the appointed day–the Day of Atonement? I’m not sure. I’m not even sure that it was ever pronounced.

At any rate, it seems really silly for us to attempt to do so. What would the point of such a totally fabricated “spiritual heritage” be? Jesus never taught it–and yes, I know he used “I AM” to refer to himself, scandalizing the Pharisees. Still, the Apostles never taught it as a way to address God. We might as well use “Adonai”, if we’re going to use any name for God taken from Hebrew or Aramaic.

 

[porthos11]

Using uppercase initials for pronouns referring to God may be pious, but it’s not called for in the Greek (as Hebrew has no lowercase). English does not call for any special writing with references to God.

Another unfortunate side-effect of the practice is the spillover to Mary, with not a few referring to Her and She.

I always use lowercase he and him when referring to God in writing. Proper English, proper spelling.

Church is spelled with a capital C when referring to the universal Church, lowercase c when referring to a particular church or church building.

Catholic is capitalized with referring to the Catholic Church, the Catholic faith, or Catholic teaching, lowercase when used in its more normal sense of universal, e.g. catholic epistles, or its use as a mark of the Church, e.g. the creed (“one, holy, catholic, and apostolic C/church”).

 

[JulianN]

Church is spelled with a capital C when referring to the universal Church, lowercase c when referring to a particular church or church building.

.

Unless you are writing for a Catholic publication that follows the Catholic News Service guidelines from the USCCB, in which case Church is lowercase when referring to the universal church and upper case when referring to a specific church building. For example, “The church teaches …” and “St. Peter Church.”

 

[Digitonomy]

upper case when referring to a specific church building. For example, …“St. Peter Church.”

That may be a little different because it’s the proper name of the church. I suspect lower case is called for when referring to the specific building, unless you are using its actual proper name. “When visiting St. Peter’s Church, drive into the parking lot and you will pass the church on the left.”

 

[JulianN]

That may be a little different because it’s the proper name of the church. I suspect lower case is called for when referring to the specific building, unless you are using its actual proper name. “When visiting St. Peter’s Church, drive into the parking lot and you will pass the church on the left.”

Right.
The disagreement tends to arise more when referring to the universal church in the lower-case.

 

[porthos11]

Unless you are writing for a Catholic publication that follows the Catholic News Service guidelines from the USCCB, in which case Church is lowercase when referring to the universal church and upper case when referring to a specific church building. For example, “The church teaches …” and “St. Peter Church.”

Perhaps I should clarify. I meant one uses lowercase c when referring to, say, “go to church” or “I contributed to the building of the church”. Of course, if it’s part of a proper noun, then proper noun spelling applies: “Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church”.

 

[johnnydigit]

ya, how come the all caps GOD or LORD never took hold?