I've been wondering why publications from sources I know have a high view of Scripture no longer capitalize the pronouns referring to God. Maybe I'm the only fuddy-duddy who this bothers.
So this post from Justin Taylor, who works with Crossway and has been involved in the ESV Bible, was helpful. He points out there are two reasons: changing customs and interpretive questions. The second was very interesting to me and seems fully justified not to make an interpretive steps beyond what the original language makes clear. It's motivated by an accuracy for interpretation, which is a high view of Scripture.
Personally, I'm still going to capitalize divine pronouns bucking custom since there are no interpretive questions involved in my own writing. And because I'm a fuddy-duddy who thinks some old customs are good.
N.T. Wright usually doesn't capitalize "god" in his books. He explained why in "The New Testament and the People of God." I don't remember what his reason was, but I picked up the habit myself. It depends on the situation, though, and whether I'm consciously thinking about it.
Posted by: Sam | July 02, 2010 at 09:23 AM
I don't captalize personal pronouns either, like he or him the way most bibles do.
Posted by: Sam | July 02, 2010 at 09:26 AM
I capitalize - maybe too much - as much for clarity as anything.
I have trouble using lower case for 'god' even when I mean 'god' and not God.
Posted by: Daron | July 02, 2010 at 10:17 AM
I'm a fuddy duddy too! Thanks for clearing up why some don't capitalize the pronouns. I always capitalize them too - out of respect and reverence for my God who isn't just any he, but the He :)
Posted by: Kelly | July 02, 2010 at 10:45 AM
Chicago Manual of Style (and I'm guessing AP) says to use lowercase for pronouns, which is why the lowercase probably appears in most publications.
Just wondering ... I read the new issue of "Enhanced Solid Ground" and noticed that the word [sic] had been inserted after a couple of Byrne quotes. I couldn't figure out the reason for it. Was it because of the capital letters?
Thanks!
Posted by: Nina | July 02, 2010 at 10:46 AM
I'm right there with you. Any time I write anything referring to Him, it gets capitalized. Add one more to the fuddy-duddy group. Maybe we'll have to make a "Divine Pronoun Capitalization Fuddy-Duddies" group on Facebook or something!
Posted by: Daniel | July 02, 2010 at 10:47 AM
Maybe we should capitalized all the letters. HIM.
I like it.
Posted by: KWM | July 02, 2010 at 01:15 PM
How about every other letter? HiMsElF
Posted by: Sam | July 02, 2010 at 03:37 PM
I think that God deserves literary recognition as a capitalized pronoun. Besides making Him distinct,it also is traditionally a sign of respect for Him.
In the Old Testament,He said that there is no OTHER god like Him.
So why not give Him the honor & distinction of a capitalized pronoun. It would also be easier for the reader to distinguish Him anyway. Just my 2 cents' worth from a fuddy duddy too.
Posted by: Romarico Galvez | July 03, 2010 at 05:22 AM
Sign me up for the fuddy duddy group. If anything, I overcapitalize, just to make sure honor is paid where honor is due--whether it's "God," personal pronouns, or any words referring to His essence or abilities: Love, Wisdom, Grace, etc.
Posted by: Tim | July 04, 2010 at 06:30 AM
Apparently I'm in the FD Group as well. It's interesting that I have never been marked off in my papers for capitalizing divine pronouns, but we use the Turabian formatting standard. I would have to go back and see if they say anything specific about it.
Posted by: Shawn White | July 04, 2010 at 08:01 AM
I asked this question on Justin Taylor's post, but the conversation was pretty much over by the time I got to it, so I'll post it here too:
The larger question about names is why all major English translations avoid the use of YHWH, replacing it with “the LORD.” This is potentially confusing, and, in my opinion, keeps the casual reader from really being able to understand the weight of certain passages (Exodus 3:15 and 20:7 come immediately to mind).
I fully understand the desire to capitalize divine pronouns, but shouldn't we also want to use the actual divine name?
Posted by: Matt | July 06, 2010 at 02:36 PM
I'm with you, Matt. I find that a little annoying. But at least they put LORD in all caps to distinguish it from Lord without all caps, so you know where the divine name is. I'd still rather them just put YHWH in there.
Posted by: Sam | July 06, 2010 at 02:58 PM
Are you kidding. I'm all for the caps! Can you imagine reading Isaiah without caps. The rest of the pronouns are confusing enough. "I am the Lord your God". Now that's not confusing. Thanks God for who you (oops I mean You) are.
Posted by: Jeremy Knight | July 12, 2010 at 06:28 PM
I'm with you, it bothers me as well and has for a while. While I like the ESV, I'm going to stick with my NASB.
Posted by: Jim Chandler | July 15, 2010 at 10:13 AM