# Capitalizing God **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534 "2010-04-27T16:24:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/1 "2010-04-27T16:24:29Z")
So, I wrote a little note on my facebook page the other day quoting Fox Mulder, I think, about the “When you talk to god it’s prayer, when god talks to you its schizophrenia”. A couple of days later, an old friend commented that even if I wasn’t a believer, god Should be capitalized, because it’s a proper noun. I’ve tried looking it up, but get confliciting rules mostly concerned if it’s a god or The God. So, what say the dope? Should the diety be capitalized, and in general, talking of gods should not? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/2 "2010-04-27T16:38:26Z")
If you are specifically talking about the one god of Christianity or Judaism, then it’s “God”. You’d also capitalise “Father”, “Son”, “Holy Spirit/Ghost”, and “Trinity” when talking about the Christian god. However, if you are being more generic – as I was twice in the previous sentence – then it’s just “god”. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/3 "2010-04-27T16:41:11Z")
Yes, when used as a proper noun, the word should be capitalized, just as all proper nouns are supposed to be capitalized. If you’re saying “a god” or “the god” then you’re not using the word as a proper noun, so in neither case should you capitalize it. But if you’re talking about “talking to God” then you are using the word as a proper noun, and so you should capitalize it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/4 "2010-04-27T16:55:22Z")
Well, an omniscient, omnipotent God could change my lower case “g” to uppercase him/herself. ETA: very funny. Please, Mods, leave my post be! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/5 "2010-04-27T16:57:29Z")
The lower-case term ‘god’ means ‘supernatural entity above a certain power level, whether conceived of as the ultimate authority or subservient to a higher-ranking deity’. It may reference the single god of a monotheism (YHWH, haShem, Allah, etc.) or the top ranking or a subordinate god of a polytheistic pantheon. In English, however, the god referred to in the original texts of the Old Testament as YHWH and Elohm, and in the New as Theos and Kyrie, is given the appellation “God”, with the capital. By parallel, the woodworking shop employs several carpenters, one of whose surname is Carpenter. Given English’s policy towards capitalizing proper names, it should always take a capital G. (Note that the stylistics involved in texting, where abbreviations, omission of punctuation and capitalization are called for by the limitations of the medium, may sometimes be relevant. However, outside texting and real-time IM-style chat, courtesy to the reader calls for conforming to standard English style. It’s not so much wrong, as in breaking some authority’s rules, as it is impolite. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/6 "2010-04-27T16:58:17Z")
**kayaker** , your edit is possibly my most favourite ever. 😉 Yes, I agree with the others. The Christian or Jewish god is called “God” as a name, so it’s capitalised. A general or nonspecific god isn’t because you’re referring to a type of being. So, for example, God (the name used to refer to a specific god) is a god (an example of a particular class of being). ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/7 "2010-04-27T17:08:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Well, an omniscient, omnipotent God could change my lower case “g” to uppercase him/herself. > ETA: very funny. Please, Mods, leave my post be! “Could” merely makes you out to be a person of simple arguments. Use “God” as directed in other posts. Omnipotence is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/8 "2010-04-27T17:36:13Z")
a jew might not write it down at all. some jews believe that anything containing the word god can’t be destroyed. some may think this applies to any alphabet others not. easier not to have it written than to keep it ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/9 "2010-04-27T17:39:16Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > a jew might not write it down at all. some jews believe that anything containing the word god can’t be destroyed. Or they’ll write only part of the name. That’s why the name of the Judeochristian god is often written “YHWH:” the vowels are left out. It’s often rendered as Yahweh. In English you might see an observant Jew write the word “G-d.” ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/10 "2010-04-27T17:59:18Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > a jew might not write it down at all. some jews believe that anything containing the word god can’t be destroyed. If Jews really think that, then why don’t you see more of them writing the word “God” all over their bodies to become invincible? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/11 "2010-04-27T18:09:38Z")
Just think of the old Christian song and Bible verse: “O God, you are my god.” Admittedly, many people capitalize both instances, but they shouldn’t. The first instance is clearly addressing God by His name (a proper noun) while the second implies that the speaker has a choice of gods (just a plain old ordinary noun). If it helps, you can also substitute other nouns that can be both proper and ordinary: O Moon, you are my moon. O Sun, you are my sun. And so on… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/12 "2010-04-27T18:12:37Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > “Could” merely makes you out to be a person of simple arguments. Yes, but I am a man of constant sorrows. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/13 "2010-04-27T18:29:10Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Or they’ll write only part of the name. That’s why the name of the Judeochristian god is often written “YHWH:” the vowels are left out. It’s often rendered as Yahweh. In English you might see an observant Jew write the word “G-d.” Um, no. Yes, that’s why observant Jews often write “G-d” – but the reason for YHWH is that Hebrew is written solely with consonants; vowels, if shown, are the equivalent of diacritical marks. Much like é and è represent different sounds in French, a Hebrew consonant (say, “nun”) with different vowel pointings will signify the sounds “nah” or “no” or “neh”. Yodh-he-waw-he was virtually never spoken (the High Priest said one prayer in the Holy of Holies in the Temple on Yom Kippur where it was uttered, but at no other time), and the idea that it stands for “Yahweh” is a reconstruction based on words incorporating those syllables with the meanings they have in the Unutterable Name. So what we know is that the Jews called their God YHWH in writing – but not what they said when they called Him that in speech (though as noted we can make a reasonable guess). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/14 "2010-04-27T18:29:16Z")
God is a god. An example of god is God. Both logically and grammatically, the word “god” might be either an improper, descriptive noun, or a proper name in “When you talk to god …” It’s purely a matter of choice and style, and, perhaps, intent. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/15 "2010-04-27T18:30:58Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > So, I wrote a little note on my facebook page the other day quoting Fox Mulder, I think, about the “When you talk to god it’s prayer, when god talks to you its schizophrenia”. For what it’s worth, I Googled the phrase, and all the hits I got had God [correctly] capitalized. If you had written, “When you talk to **a god** it’s prayer, when **a god** talks to you it’s schizophrenia,” it would have been correct to leave it uncapitalized. And by the way, it’s “deity,” not “diety.” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/16 "2010-04-27T18:33:39Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > God is a god. An example of god is God. Both logically and grammatically, the word “god” might be either an improper, descriptive noun, or a proper name in “When you talk to god …” But grammatically, if “god” is an improper, descriptive noun, it needs an article. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/17 "2010-04-27T18:38:18Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But grammatically, if “god” is an improper, descriptive noun, it needs an article. That’s not 100% true: “Monotheists believe in one god; polytheists believe in many gods.” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/18 "2010-04-27T18:44:18Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > the reason for YHWH is that Hebrew is written solely with consonants; vowels, if shown, are the equivalent of diacritical marks. I know that. But I thought the vowel marks were deliberately left off that word for the same reason the o is omitted from “G-d,” and for that reason the correct spelling and pronunciation were lost to history. Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/19 "2010-04-27T18:49:06Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > That’s not 100% true: > > “Monotheists believe in one god; polytheists believe in many gods.” You’re right; after I posted, I wondered if I should have added “in that context.” ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534/20 "2010-04-27T18:52:47Z")
And Wiccans/Pagans will often capitalize God even when proceeded by “the”, when one is referring to the primal font of masculine energy. Example: Mercury was the god of communication. Mercury is an aspect of the God. Ahhh now the word “God” is just sounding funny in my mental ears. It’s like a thud every time I read it. GODGODGODGODGOD THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capitalizing-god/537534.md?page=2)