ChristianPrincess22 Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I'm not sure if this is the right place but I read through them all and thought this was best... I might spell a word wrong so bare with me... So, this has been bothering me for awhile now. I figured I would ask what other Christians or non Christians think on the matter. What do you think about capitallizing God and Jesus? I started to notice that some of my Christian and non Christian friends do not often do this, and how these non famous authors do not do it that often. I really don't understand the authors. Because, these writers have very fine grammar yet they fail at capitlizing the name of God. Even if they don't believe in God, it would be proper grammar when saying "my God," for example. Because, say if you were writing "Oh my Spongebob," you don't believe that Spongebob is an actual person, or that he exists, but you still capitolize his name. Because that is proper grammar. Now for the lazy teens who put a lower case g, I undestand sometimes you don't capitolize even your name, but it's God. He deserves to be capitolized. That's just what I think for the matter. Some people think to put it in all caps. I agree with that to some degree, but proper grammarly, not fully. What do you guys think? : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicene Nerd Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Obviously it is correct grammar. Lazy people are lazy, either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ananas Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 I thought this was gonna be about contemporary Christianity (or perhaps going back to Constantine) capitalizing on God. Now I'm let down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel 1525 Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Well, Jesus is a name, so it should be capitalized. I suppose God should be capitalized, since it's generally a rule of grammar. I suppose it really isn't a huge deal though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) Ha, well the simple answer here is that you're just incorrect, and the authors are just following proper English! Your understanding of the capitalization of the word god is not accurate. Jesus and Spongebob are proper nouns and so they will always be capitalized. God is a common noun, and can be used as a name (for example, in a monotheistic religion). When it is used as a name, it is capitalized, and when it is not used as a name, it is not capitalized. "God" will follow the exact same grammatical rules regarding capitalization as its fellow common nouns like "dad" or "mom." If you know when to capitalize those words, you know when to capitalize god. (Note that I don't capitalize it here, because I'm just referring to the English word, and not using it as a name). For example: "I saw my Mom at the store." - incorrect "I prayed to my God last night." - incorrect "I saw Mom at the store." - correct "I prayed to God last night." - correct "Everyone should respect their dad." - correct "Everyone should pray to the god that they believe in." - correct And so forth. It doesn't matter what being you're referring to, or anything like that. The only thing that matters is that it's being treated like a proper noun in that particular sentence. Leaving it lower case in "my god" is indeed correct, and capitalizing it there would not be appropriate for any formal work. Edited January 9, 2016 by Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesusismyticket Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 well one note would be, Christians capitalize the word God in reverence and honor of Him. We even capitalize the pronoun referring to Him. Now, there is pagan gods as well. Notice I didn't capitalize anything to do with a pagan god. It is purely a christian reverence sort of thing. Cato is right about the correct grammar rules. And suddenly due to everyone's disappointment I feel like someone should start that thread LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buoyancy Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Grammatically, yes, "My god" shouldn't be capitalized. However, as the lovely poster above me said, we do it out of respect, and usually in prayer scenarios. "Oh my God, thank you for blah blah blah." It's something that is more often spoken than written( and English is full of spoken incongruities.). If someone WRITES that way, they're just strange and need to study English some more . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silentflood Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Yes God is capitalized, gods are lowercase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bladesinger Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) gotta be honest when i first saw the topic name for this thread i thought you were talking about making money off of God... I feel like if you were saying "my god," but not specifically referring to God (like the Christian God), then you would leave it lowercase. But to me it feels more normal to capitalize God's name wherever you use it. Gods in general (like Greek gods, etc., where it's not a proper noun) would always be left lowercase. Anyway I don't know if there's an actual grammatical law concerning capitalizing God's name in a non-proper noun context (like "my God") Edited January 14, 2016 by Bladesinger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb5462 Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Surely saying "my God" in the way you might say "my Amy" or "my Bobby" when referring to someone close to you (e.g. a child or spouse) is ok? E.g. "My Amy has just been made captain of her junior soccer team." "My Bobby is such a loving husband." "My God is a wonderful counsellor." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) Surely saying "my God" in the way you might say "my Amy" or "my Bobby" when referring to someone close to you (e.g. a child or spouse) is ok? E.g. "My Amy has just been made captain of her junior soccer team." "My Bobby is such a loving husband." "My God is a wonderful counsellor." It's not standard, no. Some writers will do that, as a matter of preference/style, but it's not the normal thing to do grammar wise, and definitely not required (as the OP seemed to suggest). It should be clear that Amy and Bobby are proper nouns, while god is a common noun, and therefore it should come as no surprise that they don't behave in the same way. Edited January 14, 2016 by Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb5462 Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 It's not standard, no. Some writers will do that, as a matter of preference/style, but it's not the normal thing to do grammar wise, and definitely not required (as the OP seemed to suggest). It should be clear that Amy and Bobby are proper nouns, while god is a common noun, and therefore it should come as no surprise that they don't behave in the same way. I didn't mean it was required, more that I was questioning whether it was ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bladesinger Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 I feel like God should always be capitalized, similarly to "He" when speaking of Him (but im way more likely to forget to capitalize "He" than God ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 I find this topic very perplexing, what I'm gathering by the posts in this thread is there is sort of an agenda to capitalize the word, even inappropriately, because the capitalization of words is considered "good," or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicene Nerd Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 I find this topic very perplexing, what I'm gathering by the posts in this thread is there is sort of an agenda to capitalize the word, even inappropriately, because the capitalization of words is considered "good," or something. Capitalization is a sacrament. Duh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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