I see people capitalize this word, no matter what deity they might be referring to. The capital "g" in "God" was a spelling change originating in Bishop Ulfilas' Gothic translation of the New Testament. This spelling was later associated with all Abrahamic use of the word, including capitalizing the "a" in "Allah". It is not merely a token of respect to make the "g" capital. It is a name, but of a type of being, not a first name like "Harry"; the Abrahamic deity's name is not "God". In other words, Zeus is a "god", Yahweh is "God". I am not implying any belief in any deity, I just think proper use of terms can help us know what is being said.
So here are some questions:
1) How many of you use the term this way in your posts?
2) Do you think this understanding would help?
2007-10-29 08:52:50 · 6 answers · asked by neil s 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
elmjunburke: Spelling and punctuation are correct, I am not screaming, and you have offered no answer, which i could report you for.
2007-10-29 09:09:22 · update #1
I'm afraid you've missed the mark here, and you need to answer some questions.
1)Why was the capitalization changed in the translation? Was it simply a mistake, or did the Bishop intend to imply something by the change?
2) Why was it retained and who exactly associated it with Abrahamic use? Did the Christians, et al, simply do so so until they could demand that it be associated with their god?
3)You concede that capitalization is done as a sign of respect; Why is Yahweh more deserving of respect than Zeus?
After that, you lose coherence. You give no reason why god should be capitalized other than a biased convention that was installed by the believers of that particular deity. Capitalization in this case implies preeminence and special significance. That, in my opinion, would be a big reason for me to capitalize god when referring to any deity. Follower of other religions do not agree with the Abrahamic claim of preeminence and feel justified in giving their gods and goddesses the same respect.
"Because of a typographical error in transcribing medical records, my gender was listed as Male instead of male. This error has persisted through several doctors and is now the convention when referring to myself. In other word, Harry is a "male", I am "Male."
And by the by, for someone not implying belief in any particular deity, you come off sounding very biased.
2007-10-29 10:36:57 · answer #1 · answered by Recreant- father of fairies 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God is The Creator of the Universe. I love and respect Him. I will always capitalize any use of His name, if only to separate Him from any one else. Since I believe in only one God, I don't worry about His name. Yahweh or Jehovah or I AM.. I am sorry if this offends you, but I don't intend to change.
2007-10-29 08:59:09 · answer #2 · answered by PROBLEM 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I only capitalize the g in god when I am referring to Yahweh or Jesus Christ (they are one and the same). If I am speaking of any other god, then it is with a lower case g.
2007-10-29 08:58:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
With so much horrible spellings , lack of capitals at the beginning of sentences, a complete ignorance of punctuation , and you scream about one word .
2007-10-29 09:03:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
unless I am directly quoting, I always use small-g, because the Judeo-Christian god, based upon the bible, deserves no respect. Also, the capital-g implies legitimacy to the "one true god" nonsense.
2007-10-29 08:59:57 · answer #5 · answered by kent_shakespear 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I use it when referring to the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob....I do not use it when referring to other gods.
2007-10-29 09:01:28 · answer #6 · answered by dreamdress2 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋