Grasping for the Wind

I was taught to capitalize pronouns referencing the Trinity as well. Of course, I learned English grammar via the Abeka curriculum (which tends to be more on the conservative side) but I agree that capitalization is a sign of respect.

And I do realize that I left out the comma that ought to have seperated the clauses in the second sentence.

I always feel more self-conscious about grammar when I am actually talking about it.

The N.T. was written in all lowercase letters so I figure if St. Paul can reference the Trinity with lowercase then it's probably ok for me to reference the Trinity with lowercase.

Didn't know that Jared. But again, you are talking about a different language with different rules. I was also recently told that the ESV version of the Bible uses lowercase. I'm not sure which stylebook they use as their standard.

The ESV is basically a modern revision of the 1971 edition of the RSV which is basically a revision of the 1901 ASV. All three Bibles use the Masoretic text for the Old Testament and Nestle's Greek text for the New Testament. These two sources (Masoretic and Nestle) have been the primary sources for pretty much every modern version published since they started being published. Translators use whatever original doccuments they can get their hands on in order to make an accurate translation. As far as I know, there aren't any N.T. texts that use capitalization.

Of course your right, it's not really the point that there is no capitalization in the original language (in the Greek at least). For those of us who do capitalize the personal pronouns in reference to the Trinity (and, as a general rule, I do), we have been raised and/or taught that it is the name of God that is to be revered. It doesn't matter whether that name is used as a proper noun or not, if you are referencing God then you show the appropriate respect.

Amen. That is the very same reasoning I use to explain to others. I have not yet found that it is a witnessing tool, but I hope that one day someone will ask me why I do it, and then I can tell them about my Father.

I do it, but I'm not going to make an issue out of it. I don't think that it was ever a definitive sort of thing (as Jared said, it's not reflecting the original text). It does help disambiguate some sentences, tho...

I wonder what the original translators of the Scripture into English did? And if we know their reasons? I think that would be Tyndale and one other I can't name at the moment.

You can read Wycliffe's translation of the NT here. He doesn't capitalize the pronouns. Neither did Tyndale, as you can see here. I don't know when the practice of capitalizing the pronouns began, my guess would be probably sometime shortly after the Reformation occurred.

There's also a less pious, more pragmatic reason for preferring the capitalization of "Him." In a case where there are two possible antecedents (e.g. "God asked Moses whether He ..." or "God asked Moses whether he ..."), it's easier to make your antecedent clear if your rule is that the capitalized pronoun refers to God, and the uncapitalized pronoun refers to the human antecedent.

Hey John, I read through some of your postings here we seem to have a lot of views in common. I enjoyed hearing your honest thougths. PS Thanks for your kind words about the Jonny Diaz concert back in jan. I kinda recognize you but not sure if we met. perhaps just once in passing. Ok man, keep in touch, Ryan

You are welcome Ryan. Keep coming back for some of my other thoughts.

And Leopoldtulip, I came across the same rule when I was doing a search on the internet for commonly accepted rules. From what I found , the majority of writers prefer to capitalize God when the name of God (or Buddha or Vishnu or whomever) is capitalized. If it is not, as in god with a little "g" then the pronoun is not.

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