When you use the word God...

[Quintessence]

I'd always been taught this as a matter of grammatical correctness - God is a proper noun and specifically refers to the deity called God (among other assorted names that also use proper case) by Abrahamic religions.

My brain has difficultly considering any other usages to be correct and proper.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

When you use the word God (upper case), which of these do you mean?

NOTE - "god" and "God" do not necessarily refer to the same thing; I am specifically asking about the upper case variant

This poll is mostly for curiosity. Regardless of your choice, why do you use the upper case "God" in the way that you do?

The uppercase in my view just means a proper noun for a given god say if we were talking about Zues he would be The God or A God. Whereas, if I were talking about Zues among other gods, then he would be god of many.

Apart from using English accuracy in referring to proper nouns, I tend to think of the Christian god since I live among christians completely.

Its more so how it is used in a sentence and context for me since it has no personal meaning as to whether its in caps or not.

 

[ChristineM]

For the Abrahamic deity (and several others) its a proper noun.

Like any other proper noun to me, the capital is optional depending what mood my spell checker is in.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

When you use the word God (upper case), which of these do you mean?
NOTE - "god" and "God" do not necessarily refer to the same thing; I am specifically asking about the upper case variant
This poll is mostly for curiosity. Regardless of your choice, why do you use the upper case "God" in the way that you do?

As used in Scripture, or because I find the Upper-Case variant refers to The Creator God.
The KJV Bible's at Psalms 110 puts 'LORD' in all Upper-Case letters.
'God' or 'LORD' being a title standing in for the Tetragrammaton's four letters YHWH representing God's name.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

For the Abrahamic deity (and several others) its a proper noun.
Like any other proper noun to me, the capital is optional depending what mood my spell checker is in.

Although a noun, in Scripture I find both God and Lord are titles and are Not personal names as the Tetragrammaton's four letters YHWH stands for the name of the God of the Bible.

In Scripture, Satan is referred to as the ' god ' (lower-case letters) of this world of badness.....

 

[robocop (actually)]

G-d is "El-him" which is a word that is ancient to the text of Genesis. They didn't know what it meant so they just put G-d. And if you search for "Those who came from the sky" in a translation engine it is 3 words which start with "Elo" and end in "him." I was taught that that's what it means, i.e. Extra-Terrestrial Creators.

 

[Vinayaka]

For me it's a synonym for Siva (Shiva). I use it because most people wouldn't understand Siva. When in Saivite only company I use Siva.

 

[Buddha Dharma]

If you're talking God uppercase specifically- I don't call Buddha-nature God, but I wouldn't object to someone doing that in a purely pantheistic sense, without a bunch of dogmatic speculating like the monotheists entertain. In my school historically, Buddha-nature is more or less approached like Pantheism, or even extremely light Panentheism. The latter because all the Buddhas we talk about are perfectly manifested from that one luminous nature, while everything else is bound in wrong views, etc.

 

[Milton Platt]

When you use the word God (upper case), which of these do you mean?

NOTE - "god" and "God" do not necessarily refer to the same thing; I am specifically asking about the upper case variant

This poll is mostly for curiosity. Regardless of your choice, why do you use the upper case "God" in the way that you do?

I always use the lower case unless the person I am writing to wants me to use the capital "G".
I feel that god is not a proper noun, as it simply describes various supernatural beings worshiped over the course of human history. It's kind of a job description. If you want to invoke a specific god, then the god's name should be capitalized.

But it doesn't bother me to use an upper case letter if it makes the other person happy.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

For me it's a synonym for Siva (Shiva). I use it because most people wouldn't understand Siva. When in Saivite only company I use Siva.

This is actually pretty similar to words that I use, or prefer to use, rather than "god".

"God" is a catch-all phrase that doesn't really describe much. I can say "Loki is a god," and that's true. But he's neither an ás or a vanir; he's a jötunn.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

I use the word God to represent the ultimate source of my being....and all else that exists.

 

[Deeje]

@Quintessence
I use a capital "G" for God like I would for any title given to any personage whose position is worthy of honor. The person themselves might not warrant that kind of respect, but their position does IMO. In the case of the one I refer to as "God", he also has a personal name YHWH (Jehovah in English) He alone is worthy of all the honor that his intelligent creation can give him.

I do not believe that any other "gods" exist that are equal with the Creator, though the Greek word "theos" merely denotes a divine mighty one'. As a divinely sent mighty one, Jesus can also bear this title but not with a capital "G" IMO.

In the Bible (2 Corinthians 4:4) satan is also referred to as a god (small "g")

 

[Frater Sisyphus]

For me, a metaphorical construct that represents the universe (matter, energy and space) and a collective sociological/moral aim

 

[ChristineM]

Although a noun, in Scripture I find both God and Lord are titles and are Not personal names as the Tetragrammaton's four letters YHWH stands for the name of the God of the Bible.

In Scripture, Satan is referred to as the ' god ' (lower-case letters) of this world of badness.....

God would never be a personal name for a biblical character considering the word is a derivation of the 6th century ad german word gott.

It is a name of identification

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

But there is also a notion that I am using the word "God" in reverence to all gods or the notion of a god existing.

The uppercase - to me - denotes respect.

I use God (upper case) when referring to my own religion, Christianity. It's a sign of respect.

@Quintessence
I use a capital "G" for God like I would for any title given to any personage whose position is worthy of honor.

A question for all of you: do you also capitalize “Satan?”

 

[Quintessence]

I think I have a question for the "capitalize because respect" crowd too. Doesn't deification already imply that? That is to say, doesn't identifying something as a god inherently imply something is worthy of respect?

 

[Enoch07]

A question for all of you: do you also capitalize “Satan?”

Because it's a name.

Just like we capitalize anyone's name in English.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I think I have a question for the "capitalize because respect" crowd too. Doesn't deification already imply that? That is to say, doesn't identifying something as a god inherently imply something is worthy of respect?

I think I see where they're coming from on that point: deification also creates the opportunity for sacrilege. Once something is sacred, it can be profaned, so the act of deification can also imply certain standards for how the thing should be treated: if a thing is worthy of respect, then actions toward that thing should express respect.

Personally, I think capitalization is a bit of a strange and arbitrary way to express respect, but to each their own, I guess.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Because it's a name.

Just like we capitalize anyone's name in English.

But the same could be said about "God."

 

[Enoch07]

But the same could be said about "God."

God is not God's name though. Jehovah in English is His name. God is just easier and quicker.