Among self-publishing Christian authors, it’s extremely common to capitalize any and all pronouns referring to God. Not only the third-person pronouns of He, Him, and His but the second-person You and Your are often styled with capital letters. Among publishing houses however—even Christian ones—such capitalization is rare. What is the reason for the disconnect? Is it somehow disrespectful to use lowercase pronouns for God? How should indie authors proceed?
What Are Capital Letters For?
The reason given most often for capitalizing pronouns in reference to God is that doing so conveys reverence or respect. However, showing respect is not a function that capitalization serves in English. Imagine for a moment what political campaign ads and social media posts would look like if using lowercase in reference to an opponent was a means of showing disrespect or contempt.
In English, one of the main functions of capitalization is to distinguish the general from the specific. For example, “We headed west on the highway” versus “Poverty levels in the West declined during the last century.” And that is why Christians capitalize the word “God” in reference to the God of the Bible, while the lowercase “god” is used to refer to deities of other religions.
Occasionally, I see authors (in an attempt to be consistent) refer to the devil as “satan.” If capitalization confers respect, then this would make sense. However, since capitalization instead distinguishes the general from the specific, using the lowercase “satan” effectively implies that the devil is a sort of impersonal force rather than a specific being, which is likely not what these authors intend.
But I Still Want to Capitalize Pronouns
Even knowing all of this, some indie authors may still choose to capitalize deity pronouns. And that is their right—its their book, after all! However, even in that case, they need to bear a couple of things in mind.
When quoting from the Bible, it is not permissible to change the pronoun capitalization of the translation you are quoting from. If you wish to minimize potential reader confusion, it may be best to quote from a translation that also capitalizes the deity pronouns, such as the NKJV or NASB. Most other translations leave them lowercase, and the choice of those translators needs to be respected.
Consistency Matters
Finally, whether you capitalize deity pronouns or not, that choice should be consistent across the entire work. A mixture of capitalization styles in reference to God makes a book look sloppy and may confuse readers. Such errors are unfortunately incredibly easy to make. Hiring a skilled professional editor—and making your capitalization preference clear up front—is an effective way to prevent this problem. If you’d like to learn more about how I can help you address this and many other issues that may arise in your book, let’s chat!
