Capitalization Rules for Writers (Part 8 of 8)

(Kathy Ide wrote this eight-part series.)

Religious Terms

The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style has a comprehensive list of what religious terms should be capitalized. Here are a few examples:

* Bible and Scripture are capitalized, but biblical and scriptural are not. Similarly, capitalize the Almighty but not almighty God.

* Lowercase the apostles, the apostle Paul, Paul the apostle, and apostolic, but capitalize Paul’s title Apostle to the Gentiles and John’s the Beloved Apostle.

* Only capitalize the word Bible in phrases like “Bible study” and “vacation Bible school.”

* Noah’s ark and the ark of the covenant are lowercased.

* Lowercase baby in “the baby Jesus” and child in “the Christ child.”

* Lowercase body in “the body of Christ,” whether referring to the church or Jesus’ physical form.

Kathy Ide is a published author, ghostwriter, and freelance editor. She speaks at writers’ conferences, teaches online writing and editing courses, and mentors new writers. She’s the founder and coordinator of The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network (www.TheChristianPEN.com) and the Christian Editor Network (www.ChristianEditor.com). Learn more at www.KathyIde.com.