There are certain emails I receive on a routine basis and an especially common one relates to pronouns. Thankfully it’s not asking me to define my own pronouns as is all the rage today, but rather asking me whether Christians ought to capitalize God’s pronouns.
By way of explanation, when some Christians use a pronoun to refer to God, they capitalize it: “God tells us that He is holy.” Or “God is King, so worship before Him.” Other Christians simply use the same uncapitalized pronouns they would use in any other circumstance: “he” and “him.” Anyone who has written as much as a sentence about the Christian faith has had to decide which they will use.
Christians who capitalize divine pronouns believe that capitalizing any word that refers to God is a sign of respect. For them, failing to capitalize the word is dishonoring to God. On the other hand, Christians who do not capitalize divine pronouns insist they are just following the conventions of the English language rather than crafting a new one. For them, there is no need to adapt the language.
Which is biblical? Neither, really. The Bible does not speak to the issue and therefore we are free to do as we please and as convention and conscience direct. On the other hand, we are not free to hold up one option as intrinsically better or holier than the other.
As for me, I do not capitalize pronouns that refer to God. Here’s my reasoning.
The Bible doesn’t use them. The Bible in its original form did not treat divine pronouns differently from other words. Rather, in both Hebrew and Greek the words were written without distinguishing between uppercase and lowercase in either pronouns or proper nouns (such as names). Hence, I believe we can conclude that the matter is not objectively important to God who is fine with both his name and pronouns being written within the conventions of that particular language.
It is not an English convention. The English language has no convention for capitalizing pronouns (unless, of course, they begin a sentence). If God does not insist we capitalize them, there is no reason to insist that we create a means of doing so in English any more than the writers of Hebrew or Greek created a means of doing so in their languages. Of course, English does have a convention for capitalizing proper names, and therefore it is right to capitalize “Jesus,” “God,” and so on. However, if English had just one case, it would not be sinful to follow its conventions. Further, capitalizing “Jesus” is not a mark of respect but of linguistic convention (since we would capitalize “Dagon” and “Satan” just the same).
Most Bible translations don’t use them. Few if any of the historically-important translations (e.g. Tyndale, Geneva, King James) capitalized pronouns and neither do most contemporary ones. More to the point, the translation I rely upon, the English Standard Version, does not. I quote the Bible often and would not want to have two different conventions in my writing, one for my own writing and one for biblical quotes.
My publishers don’t use them. Every publisher maintains a style guide that lays out the conventions of grammar, punctuation, and spelling they expect their authors to follow. For Christian publishers, this typically includes guidance on divine pronouns. Though I have published with several different publishers, none have permitted this convention.
On a very personal level, they make my writing weaker. I used to capitalize divine pronouns but found that I used them as a crutch. My writing grew stronger as I worked harder to clarify which “he” or “him” I was referring to without relying on a capitalized “H” to do the work for me.
To conclude, the person who believes it is respectful to capitalize pronouns is free to hold and exercise the conviction that it honors God. However, he is not free to insist that other people come to the conviction that it indicates respect and honors God more than the alternative. In that way, it is like so many other convictions that vary by time, culture, language, and so many other factors. God made us different and we do best when we embrace diversity in these minor matters rather than demand uniformity.
