"God" with lowercase: A big deal?

[PaulCyp1]

"god" is simply a noun. "God" is the name of specific individual, and should therefore be capitalized.

 

[Not David]

I capitalize when speaking of the Christian God.. First, because I'm speaking of the God over all creation and our Father, so it's a noun to be capitalized out of respect for my Creator, and second in order to differentiate Him from false gods.

The respect is first and foremost. I also capitalize Him when referring of our God and Lord - although I sometimes find myself in spellchecker wars over it.. lol. But I do set forth as a matter of course, to distinguish in my writing my Creator from regular persons or false gods.

Everyone is different when it comes to respect of our Lord and what they personally find respectful, of course.

Some people read the Word of God standing, others feel comfortable reading the Word curled up in their bed. Some people are quick to point out the errors in capitalization, others understand the spellchecker wars..

Your mom it seems has no issues treating God as she would the neighbors - which is good in a way as she might have a very close personal relationship with Him leaving her feeling comfortable with Him as a friend..

However I think for ALL of us, we should periodically remind ourselves that while He is our ever present help and friend - He is also our Savior, our Lord, and the Sovereign God of all creation, of all things in Heaven as on Earth. Our King and our Father.

And that deserves our utmost of respect. That He would lower Himself for us, His creation, in order to save us from ourselves - well thats nothing short of a miracle.

In the Light of His presence all knees will bow.. and ours should have respect, knowing who He is in Spirit and in Truth, it's our knees to be the first bent in humility..

So the respect of capitalization is the very least of all the respect He deserves from His children.

I think my mom is mainly annoyed by people suggesting when you write God in lowercase letter you are referring to false gods

 

[Hazelelponi]

I think my mom is mainly annoyed by people suggesting when you write God in lowercase letter you are referring to false gods

That's just because its normally the case. It's how Christians who write online have found to make such a designation.

In Christianity there are false gods. So how do you differentiate our Creator from say, a pagan sun god? You say God or god and people easily understand the different reference.

It's a far simpler method since in English God means a God...

 

[Jonaitis]

I was going to post in TAW but since this is something that involved my Evangelical mom, I better ask here. Also, though the issue was in Spanish (with God being Dios), I think it might be the same in English:

My mom was checking her Christian page in FB and there was a post that we should put God in uppercase because "god" means fake gods so she wrote down that "God" nor "god" really matters but having a relationship with God and that issue was just being "fanatic".

Then there were passive-aggressive responses from both sides.

What's your opinion?

I am liberal when it comes to capitalizing pronouns, but it does bother me when people can't simply do it for "God" and "Lord," or even "Jesus." I tend to judge a person's spiritual maturity for it, because it speaks of how much they respect/revere him over themselves and their own names (that they clearly capitalize).

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I was going to post in TAW but since this is something that involved my Evangelical mom, I better ask here. Also, though the issue was in Spanish (with God being Dios), I think it might be the same in English:

My mom was checking her Christian page in FB and there was a post that we should put God in uppercase because "god" means fake gods so she wrote down that "God" nor "god" really matters but having a relationship with God and that issue was just being "fanatic".

Then there were passive-aggressive responses from both sides.

What's your opinion?

Simply a matter of defining "which" one. In scripture we see "gods" or "God", for the purpose of identification between one that exists and those that do not.

 

[zippy2006]

I think my mom is mainly annoyed by people suggesting when you write God in lowercase letter you are referring to false gods

Using capitalization for polemical reasons is problematic and has no linguistic basis, but consider the fact that if you use the word "god" you are using a common noun which is a generic name for something that belongs to a class or group. Common nouns and proper nouns are not simply interchangeable. If you change the capitalization you need to change the grammatical context, too. For example:

• We prayed to God for a child, and became pregnant.
• We prayed to god for a child, and became pregnant.

The obvious question to the second sentence is, "Which god?" Grammatically you would have to change more than just the capitalization. There are multiple candidates:

• We prayed to our god for a child, and became pregnant.
  
• We prayed to the Christian god for a child, and became pregnant.
  
• We prayed to the one true god for a child, and became pregnant.

These options at least make sense, even though Christian theology would probably question a common noun designation due to the fact that God does not belong to any genus.

(Incidentally, this is also why those who claim that capitalization doesn't matter are wrong. In the English language capitalization is more than mere syntax, it carries semantic weight.)

 

[Anguspure]

I was going to post in TAW but since this is something that involved my Evangelical mom, I better ask here. Also, though the issue was in Spanish (with God being Dios), I think it might be the same in English:

My mom was checking her Christian page in FB and there was a post that we should put God in uppercase because "god" means fake gods so she wrote down that "God" nor "god" really matters but having a relationship with God and that issue was just being "fanatic".

Then there were passive-aggressive responses from both sides.

What's your opinion?

"God" is a title like "Her Majesty". It is a mark of respect to use upper case for the title when referring to our "God", conversely it implies a level of less or no respect when we use a lower case to call something a "god".
For me, I like to use the name of our God which (in Latin lettering) is YHWH because it distinguishes our God from other gods without ambiguity. Regardless of whether somebody thinks He is "God" or "god", HE IS YHWH.

 

[Anguspure]

In addition to the point about capital and lower case letters that others have made, there is perhaps one more consideration. With the caveat that I do not know Hebrew, I do know Arabic (a related Semitic language), and in Arabic as well as Coptic (which is not Semitic, but is a member of the broader Afro-Asiatic family) it is possible to make this distinction between "God" (the one God) and "god" (the gods of the nations/pagans/non-believers) even without a capital/lowercase distinction (Coptic only adopted this distinction late, and Arabic does not have it at all). In Arabic we use Allah for the one God (yes, Arabic-speaking Christians and also Arabic-speaking Jews use this word; it's not the property of Muslims, even if some of them may act like it is), whereas the gods of the nations (false gods) would be called al-ilah (plural al-aliha), because ilah is kind of like a generic term ('lower case' god, which could refer to any god). Because Allah cannot be possessed since it is already definite (just like how in English you cannot say "my the God"), to say things like "Oh my God", you use ilah -- ya ilahi! (that -i ending marks it as possessive: bayt 'house', bayti 'my house', ism 'name', ismi 'my name', etc.)

Coptic is similar (efnouti is 'upper case' God, while 'lower case' god is ninouti...the base form is just nouti, but you almost never find Coptic nouns without some definite article, due to how the language builds words and phrases), and it would not surprise me if there was something similar going on in Hebrew and/or Aramaic. (I don't actually know about Syriac...I feel like I should look that up, but I'm not sure where. Haha. The only forms I know in Syriac are Aloho/Alaha, which are the same, just in two different pronunciations/geopolitical dialects.)

Can someone here who knows Hebrew or Aramaic grammar shed some light on this? Now I'm curious

In Hebrew our God is called יהוה (YHWH). Whereas the generic title is אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) which is used for everything from men that are "gods" (Pslams 82) to powerful angelic beings and other gods.
אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) is often used to refer to יהוה (YHWH) but usually with a descriptor such as: אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהִים (The God of Abraham)
The Hebrew Name for God - Elohim
The word for idol is פֶסֶל (pesel).

 

[Hazelelponi]

In Hebrew our God is called יהוה (YHWH). Whereas the generic title is אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) which is used for everything from men that are "gods" (Pslams 82) to powerful angelic beings and other gods.
אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) is often used to refer to יהוה (YHWH) but usually with a descriptor such as: אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהִים (The God of Abraham)
The Hebrew Name for God - Elohim
The word for idol is פֶסֶל (pesel).

But I see Jews online write God (YHWH) in English as G-D. Because English is a different language I assume.

 

[Dorothy Mae]

I was going to post in TAW but since this is something that involved my Evangelical mom, I better ask here. Also, though the issue was in Spanish (with God being Dios), I think it might be the same in English:

My mom was checking her Christian page in FB and there was a post that we should put God in uppercase because "god" means fake gods so she wrote down that "God" nor "god" really matters but having a relationship with God and that issue was just being "fanatic".

Then there were passive-aggressive responses from both sides.

What's your opinion?

I started on my own writing God as it is a proper name to me like Mom. There are moms, but my Mom was Mom. Same with Dad or Auntie. If it refers to one person and not a group, I think of it as a proper noun like a name and capitalize it. It is a gramar question for me.

But the fanatics to me are those who refuse to write out the vowel "o" because the Hebrews had no vowels. I kid you not. There are those who think they ought not write the vowel. I have no idea how they deal with speaking as the Hebrews used no vowels on ordinary words but refused to speak out the word/name Moses gave them to refer to God. Do they just say Gd and leave out the vowel. That would be like the Hebrews.

 

[Dorothy Mae]

My opinion: "God" is not a proper name, so it is not capitalized for that reason. I would say we capitalize the word "God" to distinguish true divinity from other so called "gods."

I agree with your mother. It's a tempest in a teacup. What matters isn't whether or not one capitalizes an ontological designator, but whether or not one is abiding in Christ, and Christ in them.

Do you capitalize your parents when you write them as Mom or Dad? Or do you write mom or dad? They actually are proper nouns as is God is one is refering to Him alone.

 

[Peter J Barban]

We live in a social context. Christians use "God" to refer to the being they worship and "god" to other things that other people worship. The meanings are separate and clear.

If you want to confuse and irritate others, then feel free to use them contrary to standard usage.

If you want to lift others up, without drawing attention to yourself, start by using traditional forms of speech.

 

[Neogaia777]

I was going to post in TAW but since this is something that involved my Evangelical mom, I better ask here. Also, though the issue was in Spanish (with God being Dios), I think it might be the same in English:

My mom was checking her Christian page in FB and there was a post that we should put God in uppercase because "god" means fake gods so she wrote down that "God" nor "god" really matters but having a relationship with God and that issue was just being "fanatic".

Then there were passive-aggressive responses from both sides.

What's your opinion?

I feel like I sometimes have to use them, big G, little g, to make and important distinction in what I'm talking about much of the time...

It just came about or evolved as I grew in understandings, etc, and the need came about to make certain distinctions, etc...

Some may not be at that stage yet, etc...

I also now capitalize "He" and "he", or Him/him, and Them/them, They/they, etc sometimes now also, when referring to one or more members of the Trinity, and other "he's" or him's or them/they's in the conversation now also, when I'm using them both in the same conversation or paragraph or writing or sentence, etc....

But it just kind of "came about", there was a time when I didn't, and others may not be there yet also...

God Bless!

 

[dzheremi]

Do you capitalize your parents when you write them as Mom or Dad? Or do you write mom or dad? They actually are proper nouns as is God is one is refering to Him alone.

Do you live in one of the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland? I'm just curious, because capitalizing proper nouns is generally not considered proper in English (with certain context-specific exceptions, e.g., titles of address referring to particular holders of those titles: President Trump vs. president as an office, Father so-and-so for priests vs. the biological kind of father, etc.), but if I recall correctly it is in German.

 

[DamianWarS]

I was going to post in TAW but since this is something that involved my Evangelical mom, I better ask here. Also, though the issue was in Spanish (with God being Dios), I think it might be the same in English:

My mom was checking her Christian page in FB and there was a post that we should put God in uppercase because "god" means fake gods so she wrote down that "God" nor "god" really matters but having a relationship with God and that issue was just being "fanatic".

Then there were passive-aggressive responses from both sides.

What's your opinion?

grammatically it should be "God" not "god" as the capitalize first letter indicates a proper noun, meaning it is an exclusive reference to 1 thing and in practice acts like a name. Where lower case "god" would indicate a more ambiguous reference that could fit any noun referred to as "god". like saying "put the apple on the table" or "put the Apple on the table". the difference between these two is the lowercase refers to a common apple where uppercase could refer to something more unique or specific that is named "apple" like an award or a cell phone. Since we believe in monotheism using "god" can be argued that it is too common and implicitly counters the existence of a monotheistic God. When we use "God" it is more unique and less confusing to its reference and typically placed only in monotheistic circles (although even in this it could be Jewish, Christian, Muslim, etc..)

Abstractly it doesn't matter and your mom is right, what matters is the heart behind it. written lowercase/uppercase doesn't actually demand you believe one or the other and what really matters is how it is being used. lowercase "god", although more familiar with polytheistic references can still be used in a monotheistic sense it may just take an extra question to clarify. I think generally speaking "God" is more widely understood and accepted as monotheistic so in the interest of being clear and understood we should probably use uppercase "God"

 

[Anguspure]

But I see Jews online write God (YHWH) in English as G-D. Because English is a different language I assume.

I think they are using it in the same way as Elohim but also recognizing that His name should not be used lightly (or even at all).
The English language is very limited in some respects like this. Look at the word Love, for instance, we only have the one word for which other languages (particularly in terms of the Bible Hebrew and Greek) have a number of words, each of which express something different. But we are stuck with just one expression. Good food for discussion I guess, but it also leads to much equivocation.

 

[Neostarwcc]

Honestly? Not capitalizing any word that describes God like "God, Lord, The Lord, My Lord and Savior ...etc" not only makes you look like an idiot but it shows massive disrespect.

Why? I'll give an example. You wouldn't call your King/Queen "my lord" or "my liege" or "your/her/his/my excellency" you capitalize those things because not only is it improper and poor grammar, but it's also a sign of disrespect to your monarch isn't it?

Another American example (Sorry I was born Canadian and have a Queen so that's my example) is "Your Honor" when referring to a Judge. If you wrote a Judge a letter let's say and said "your honor" you would kind of be disrespecting his position and power. You should just show reverence and respect for those in power and who are technically above you.

If people show that kind of respect and reverence to humans in power why would you not show disrespect to the one Creator of the Universe? Especially if you're a religious person and are supposed to love and show reverence towards God.

So whenever I see somebody refer to God as "lord, god, or god almighty ...etc" it kind of offends me because not only are they careless enough to not try to learn at least basic grammar and look uneducated but they're also showing disrespect for my Creator, My Lord and Savior, and for the True God of the Universe. (Even if the God that Christians worship is not the true God. It would show respect to the true God of the Universe because there was a God that created all of us. But, ofc we believe the Trinity to be the true God of the Universe. But, then again every religion claims to worship the true God of the Universe so it's... idk...)

Anyway, that's why I think it's important to Capitalize things. Especially things that deserve our reverence like a Monarchy, Judge, Police Officer, or God himself. capitalize that! XD

Now if you make a mistake and forget to capitalize something that's different. But some people on the internet are either too lazy to press the shift key and Capitalize important words like this or they just seem to be very uneducated. Like our school systems are pushing kids these days through school instead of holding them back like they should because they're behind on vital life skills. Idk.

 

[Hazelelponi]

I think they are using it in the same way as Elohim but also recognizing that His name should not be used lightly (or even at all).
The English language is very limited in some respects like this. Look at the word Love, for instance, we only have the one word for which other languages (particularly in terms of the Bible Hebrew and Greek) have a number of words, each of which express something different. But we are stuck with just one expression. Good food for discussion I guess, but it also leads to much equivocation.

Yes I absolutely agree with the limitations of the English language..

 

[ViaCrucis]

I was going to post in TAW but since this is something that involved my Evangelical mom, I better ask here. Also, though the issue was in Spanish (with God being Dios), I think it might be the same in English:

My mom was checking her Christian page in FB and there was a post that we should put God in uppercase because "god" means fake gods so she wrote down that "God" nor "god" really matters but having a relationship with God and that issue was just being "fanatic".

Then there were passive-aggressive responses from both sides.

What's your opinion?

In the English language the use of a capital letter at the beginning of a noun signifies that it is a proper noun. In the case with God the use of the capital 'G' indicates that we aren't being general, but rather specific; not a god, but The God. In a Christian context this refers to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Holy Trinity.

As such, grammatically speaking, since God is being spoken of as a proper noun, it is grammatically correct to use "God", in much the same way that one would use "Steve" not "steve". Beyond simple grammar, there tends to be an assumption or at least implication of respect. In the way that it would be regarded as potentially disrespectful to write "steve" instead of "Steve". Of course, none of this actually means that disrespect is intended, especially in informal writing--Facebook and private messages in general would certainly be among the most informal forms of writing available.

Unless disrespect is intended, then the worst one could really say is that it's being lazy--but in an informal setting like personal messages, that generally isn't a problem.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

In addition to the point about capital and lower case letters that others have made, there is perhaps one more consideration. With the caveat that I do not know Hebrew, I do know Arabic (a related Semitic language), and in Arabic as well as Coptic (which is not Semitic, but is a member of the broader Afro-Asiatic family) it is possible to make this distinction between "God" (the one God) and "god" (the gods of the nations/pagans/non-believers) even without a capital/lowercase distinction (Coptic only adopted this distinction late, and Arabic does not have it at all). In Arabic we use Allah for the one God (yes, Arabic-speaking Christians and also Arabic-speaking Jews use this word; it's not the property of Muslims, even if some of them may act like it is), whereas the gods of the nations (false gods) would be called al-ilah (plural al-aliha), because ilah is kind of like a generic term ('lower case' god, which could refer to any god). Because Allah cannot be possessed since it is already definite (just like how in English you cannot say "my the God"), to say things like "Oh my God", you use ilah -- ya ilahi! (that -i ending marks it as possessive: bayt 'house', bayti 'my house', ism 'name', ismi 'my name', etc.)

Coptic is similar (efnouti is 'upper case' God, while 'lower case' god is ninouti...the base form is just nouti, but you almost never find Coptic nouns without some definite article, due to how the language builds words and phrases), and it would not surprise me if there was something similar going on in Hebrew and/or Aramaic. (I don't actually know about Syriac...I feel like I should look that up, but I'm not sure where. Haha. The only forms I know in Syriac are Aloho/Alaha, which are the same, just in two different pronunciations/geopolitical dialects.)

Can someone here who knows Hebrew or Aramaic grammar shed some light on this? Now I'm curious

In Hebrew the generic term for "god" is el or eloah, plural elohim. Eloah is (unsurprisingly) cognate with Arabic ilah and Aramaic alaha/aloha/eloha; as well as with Akkadian ilu and Ugaritic ʾilu.

-CryptoLutheran