God /vs./ god

[xiaoen]

Hello Everybody,
I don't know when I should write "God" with a capital letter and when to write it with a small letter "god".
Do you have any information about this question? Or do you know any reliable threads or websites to teach me this?


Thank you in advance.

 

[Tdol]

.If a religion is monotheist, believing there is only one God, use the capital letter. If the religion is polytheist, believing there are many gods, use lower case.

 

[jutfrank]

It's very simple: we use capital letters for names. (It's nothing to do with religion essentially.)

Allah, Yahweh, God, Zeus, Odin, Vishnu...

These are all names of gods, and so have capital letters. The name of the Christian god is 'God'.

 

[jutfrank]

I think you may be confusing the issue.

For most people, he is the Christian god;

Many people capitalise Christian, yes. Most people? I don't think you can say that. Personally, I don't advise it unless it's a name. (Here it's an adjective so doesn't count as a proper noun so there's no good reason to capitalise.)

for some, especially Christians, He is the Christian God.

I think you mean only christians. This way of writing is non-standard and not correct outside of christian discourse.

 

[GoesStation]

Do any style guides recommend against capitalizing Christian?​

 

[emsr2d2]

Surely "Christ" is accepted to be a name and therefore words associated with it would be capitalised anyway (regardless of any religious aspect). This works for most religions where the name of the god is incorporated into the name of the religion.

Christ - Christian - Christianity
Buddha - Buddhist - Buddhism
Zoroaster - Zoroastrian - Zoroastrianism

I've never seen the name of a religion uncapitalised in any trustworthy publication.

 

[Tdol]

I can see the grammatical argument for not capitalising when it's an adjective, but many do as a sign of respect and because the followers tend to do so, so I think that not causing offence may trump grammatical form in the eyes of many.

 

[SoothingDave]

Are you suggesting I should call cheese from Wisconsin "wisconsin cheddar" because "Wisconsin" is used as an adjective there? Is it "california chardonnay?"

Or is this just some special rule you have to single out Christians?

 

[GoesStation]

I can see the grammatical argument for not capitalising when it's an adjective, but many do as a sign of respect and because the followers tend to do so, so I think that not causing offence may trump grammatical form in the eyes of many.

I'd call that a proposed grammatical argument. Adjectives derived from proper nouns are normally capitalized: Orwellian, Gaullism, Stalinism, Putinesque, etc. English could adopt French practice and stop capitalizing these adjectives, but it seems unlikely.

 

[SoothingDave]

I hope that was addressed to jutfrank or Tdol. I am, like the dictionaries and (according to the Ngram) most people, a capitaliser.

Certainly.

 

[jutfrank]

Are you suggesting I should call cheese from Wisconsin "wisconsin cheddar" because "Wisconsin" is used as an adjective there? Is it "california chardonnay?"

Or is this just some special rule you have to single out Christians?

I really don't mean to offend anyone or single anyone out, sorry. We were simply having a discussion on capitalising the word 'god', when I unconsciously wrote christian with a small c as I always do. I know it's not the norm and I'm really not trying to prescribe to you how to capitalise. I was just saying my own way of doing things and the thinking behind it.

I do feel that the current conventions on capitalising are trending towards more use of lower case but I have hardly any evidence for this view outside my own observations.

I would write californian Chardonnay, I think, considering Chardonnay as a proper noun. But I would want to write California Chardonnay with a big C because even though California may be acting as an adjective, it has the form of a proper noun.

 

[GoesStation]

I really don't mean to offend anyone or single anyone out, sorry. We were simply having a discussion on capitalising the word 'god', when I unconsciously wrote christian with a small c as I always do. I know it's not the norm and I'm really not trying to prescribe to you how to capitalise. I was just saying my own way of doing things and the thinking behind it.

It's fine to follow your own nonstandard convention, but I think it's not helpful to teach English learners (or should that be "english learners"?) to use it. I'm not offended, just trying to clarify for the learners on this site that standard usage requires adjectives derived from proper nouns to be capitalized.

 

[jutfrank]

I'm...just trying to clarify for the learners on this site...

Me too. My posts #4 and #6 were intended to clarify. Post #6 was a response to post #5.

 

[jutfrank]

I've never seen the name of a religion uncapitalised in any trustworthy publication.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/paganism?s=t

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/neopaganism

 

[GoesStation]

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/paganism?s=t

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/neopaganism

The adjective paganism is not derived from a proper noun.

 

[Tdol]

I hope that was addressed to jutfrank or Tdol. I am, like the dictionaries and (according to the Ngram) most people, a capitaliser.

Not to me- I capitalise too.

 

[Tdol]

The adjective paganism is not derived from a proper noun.

Isn't it a noun?

 

[GoesStation]

Isn't it a noun?

Pagan is a noun. It isn't a proper noun, so we don't capitalize it unless its place in a sentence or title requires it.

 

[emsr2d2]

paganism = noun
pagan = noun/adjective

I agree that it's not a proper noun and, therefore, does not need to be capitalised. However, it should be noted that the "official" website (one of them, at least) for people who identify as pagan do use the capital. www.paganfed.org/

 

[jutfrank]

So what's your criterion for qualifying as a proper noun, then? The Pagan Federation obviously think that Paganism qualifies.

Plus, the following link uses a capital N for Neopaganism, suggesting a proper noun whereas many dictionaries list the same word with a small p.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Neopagan_movements