Overall question about the Bible

Overall question about the Bible

When we speak of God, referring to Him as Him...we capitalize Him or He or You (When speaking to Him) as a sign of respect for God. Why don't Bibles do this as well? Bibles are the ultimate example of how a Christian should live, yet they don't capialize His name.

I know capitilizing "him" is not necessarily required, but still is respectful. Just wondering. =]
 
You know… I’ve noticed that sometimes myself, but never gave it much thought.
I just checked a verse in my KJV and in my NKJV. The NKJV has "Him" capitalized, but the KJV doesn’t.
I myself would like to know what the reasoning is behind why some do and some don’t.

Blessings to all
Dean
 
All I can say is I personally do it out of reverance but I agree that all translations to not do so.
 
Ok, I’ve been looking. This is from Library Online
However… I don’t feel bad when I don’t capitalize satan or any other name he is called.
Not the answer I was looking for. I may look some more tomorrow.


Holy Bible

- Names for the Bible – Capitalize all names for the Bible, for parts and versions of the Bible and all names of other sacred books.
Examples:
· Bible · Scriptures · Word of God · Holy Bible · Old Testament · New Testament
· Gospels · Ten Commandments · Lord’s Prayer · Gospels · Gospel of Luke
· King James Version · New International Version

- Creeds and Confessions – Capitalize all names of creeds and confessions of faith and general Biblical terms.
Examples:
· Lord’s Supper · the Apostles’ Creed
· the Westminster Catechism · Nicene Creed

- Deity - Capitalize all names for Deity
Examples:
· Father · Almighty · God · Lord · Holy Spirit · Son of Man
· Messiah · Lord of Hosts · Redeemer · Savior · Holy Trinity

- Devil - Capitalize all names for the Devil
Examples:
· Devil · Satan · Adversary · Father of Lies · Evil One · Lucifer
· Prince of Darkness · Beelzebub (meaning Satan)
* Do not capitalize when used in a general sense or as an expletive.
 
Ok, I am curious. I did a little more looking. This comes from, The Holy Observer
From this, it appears that some Bibles are wrong.



THO Guide to Christian Capitalization
As every Christian knows, it is vitally important to respect God's Holiness in all we do. That includes the way we write! Few areas of Christian life have become as stagnant as Christian Capitalization. It's a simple act of devotion and worship to a Holy God. Or is it? Sometimes it's hard to know what to capitalize, especially in these days of disrespect for the Almighty. Nowadays, even some (apostate) Bible translations are failing the capitalization test. How can an everyday Christian know what to capitalize and what to leave lowercase? THO can help sort out this confusing but critical matter. So whether you're a seasoned veteran of the faith, or a beginner in need of a crash course in capitals, the THO Guide to Christian Capitalization can help you!

Capitalize all personal pronouns ("He" and "His," for example). This is the most basic rule of Christian capitalization. Almost every Christian knows enough to capitalize these pronouns, but some shameful people neglect it, and we are sorry to report that they may be taking their cue from their own BIBLE!


Capitalize other, less common pronouns. These include relative pronouns such as "Who" and "Which" as well as any other pronoun that might refer to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Remember, if a word refers to God, it must be capitalized!


Capitalize titles that refer to Him, like Holy Father, Most Holy One, Bread of Life, and The Almighty. That way, people know you're talking about God, not some pagan deity.


Words that describe God's attributes should be capitalized. This includes His Name, His Face, His Hands, and other such descriptors, as well as His Holiness, Goodness, Justice, etc.


Just to be sure, capitalize words on either side of the Word God; This shows how His holiness spreads to all that surrounds Him.


Make sure not to capitalize proper names of the evil one. Just as Christians must show reverence for God's name, we must show disapproval and lack of respect for the devil. Don't do him the service of capitalizing the word "satan." This rule goes for hell, too.


When writing about Jesus Christ, you may sometimes want to capitalize all letters of HIS Name for added emphasis.


As a general rule, when in doubt, Capitalize! Writing about God is serious business, and it would be better to capitalize a word that does not refer to God than to miss out on blessings by not capitalizing.


There you have it! With a little practice, anyone can be a Holier writer. May God bless you as you continue to seek His Holy Face
 
Wow, thanks Who Am I. It's interesting how one contradicted the other. Capitalize satan, don't capitalize satan.

If I were to capitalize Satan it's not out of respect but just the fact that I'm a grammar nazi and it's a name. lol.
 
I understand- that is one I vacillate on myself.:eek:
 
that is one I vacillate on myself.:eek:
Hee Hee, I like it when Boanerges vacillate :D

Now, within the translating community, the debate is so grey that there's not much written on it. It's very much interpretative.

I could say "God is good", and I'll have to capitalise it, but if I say "the god of abraham is good" I don't have to, because the sentence itself has identified which god I was talking about, and God is, after all, a god too, just as the Son of God is a son too. (Title/definite nouns verses ordinaries):)

The tricky bit is when pronouns are involved (he, him, etc).
In the Scriptures (Hee Hee, there's a capital.... should I have said The scripture?), when in the same sentence is refering to more than one masculine person, and then all of a sudden a 'him' is dropped, I would only capitalise it if there was ambiguity as to whom this refers to if it indeed was refering to God.

But the problem goes deeper.
Lets take the word "spirit" for example. In some sentences of the Bible, we know for sure that this word refers to the holy Spirit, but in other sentences, we are definitely not sure. So, if the translator has started building an habitual usage of capitalisation throughout the translation, he/she will come to some halt there. Should it be capitalised or not, to distinguish spirit from Spirit? It will bring into question the authors personal interpretation also upon the rest of his/her usage.

And that was just simple examples, just imagine when we delve deeper into miscellinious wordings...........

The fact of the matter, is that the capitalisation practice is a rather new one, and wasn't there in the original maniscripts. The proper way, in my humble opinion, is to use the standard rules of the English language, and only use capitalisation only in occasions where there is no other choice, otherwise the authors sense of interpretation will find itself in compromise.
 
hello. i capitalize personal pronouns in written communication when speaking of God but not myself - wierd, huh? LOL!... that's not some legalistic requirement i made up for myself or anything. it's done to clearly distinguish between those references made about man versus those references made about God. but now that i'm reading this thread, that's something i'll have to pray about going forward. "I" wouldn't want to be arrested by the grammar police
29_1_1.gif
 
Capitalizing pronouns that refer to God is a matter of grammar. When the AKJ was prepared, very few materials had been printed (compared to the amount that has come since then). At the time there wasn’t enough printed material in existence for spelling, grammar and punctuation to be standardized. And because handwritten documents and books couldn’t get around very well due to transportation difficulties and the fact that dialects varied from region to region and even village to village, there was no standard way for writing things either. When the first printing presses were set up in Britain, the printers simply followed what they were used to in their village/region. Since printers in the Midlands, around London, got government business, i.e., the bulk of the market, the dialect, spelling, grammar and punctuation used there became the King’s English and thus standard English. And even then it took time for the standards to be universally accepted.

And of course, the rules vary between languages. In German you capitalize Gott because the word is a noun and all nouns are always capitalized, but you don’t capitalize any pronoun (not even ich) except when they come at the start of a sentence.
 
Back
Top