Capitalize Religious Books, Ceremonies, and References to God
Capitalization
Rulebase Summary
Capitalize the names of religious books and some religious ceremonies — the Bible, the Scriptures, the Torah, the Quran, First Holy Communion. Capitalize any word that means God — the Almighty, Heavenly Father, the Lord, the Creator.
Examples
A. She read from the bible every morning.
A. She read from the Bible every morning.
The Bible — referring to the religious text — is always capitalized.
A. He prayed that the lord would guide him.
A. He prayed that the Lord would guide him.
Any word that means God is capitalized, including the Lord, the Almighty, and similar.
Transcript Notes
Adjective forms derived from Bible and Scripture are not capitalized (biblical, scriptural). When Bible is used to mean a book other than the religious one, do not capitalize it (office bible). Capitalize the pronouns he, him, thee, or thou if they stand for God's name. Capitalize 'God' when it refers to a divine being, but not in slang expressions (god-awful) or in the plural (many gods).
Capitalize all references to a supreme being (Higher Power, Allah, Holy Spirit). Capitalize pronouns referring to a divine being (He, She, Him, His). Capitalize names of holy books and references from sacred works (Bible, Qur'an, Torah, Nicene Creed, Lord's Prayer, Beatitudes). Underlining, italics, and quotes are not used for religious books.
The word 'bible' is lowercase when used generically ('this book is my bible').
Style Guide References (6)
Morson's
Morson's
BGGP
BGGP
BGGP
BGGP