EU lowercases Christ | SermonIndex

sermonindex Nov 3, 2005

A new grammar rule devised in the Netherlands and Belgium stipulates the word "Christ" shall be spelled with a lowercase "c."The rule was part of a Dutch orthography reform published in October, reported Canada Free Press.The paper cites a German newssite, Kath.net, in reporting that the new guidelines also indicate the Dutch word for "Jews" (Joden) is to be spelled with a capital "J" when referring to nationality and with a lower-case "j" when referring to the religion.The changes – made by the main linguistic authority for the Dutch language, Nederlandse Taalunie – become mandatory next August.While the proper name of Jesus Christ – "Jezus Christus" in Dutch – will still be capitalized, other references to Christ, such as a statue of him, will be spelled with a lowercase "c," as will references to other figures who claim to be Christ.Many Europeans have long discarded belief in God and in fact believe more deeply in ghosts than in a deity.A new poll finds two-thirds of Britons said they believe in the existence of ghosts and spirits, but only 55 percent said they believe in the existence of God.Meanwhile, 26 percent believe in UFOs, 19 percent in reincarnation and 4 percent in the Loch Ness Monster, Ananova reported.

W

Willo Nov 3, 2005

Sad

G

groh_frog Nov 3, 2005

Man, just chipping away a little at a time, eh? Seems like the trend, even within some churches.Grace and Peace...

P

philologos Nov 3, 2005

The paper cites a German newssite, Kath.net, in reporting that the new guidelines also indicate the Dutch word for "Jews" (Joden) is to be spelled with a capital "J" when referring to nationality and with a lower-case "j" when referring to the religion.In the light of other threads running at present, it is interesting that they cannot distinguish between 'Jews' and 'Israelis'.There's probably a linguistic evolution at work here too. If you read earlier English works like George Fox you will find that many nouns begin with a capital letter; this is the way of modern day German. However, in English (even American English ;-)) we usually begin nouns with a lower case initial letter. In English we have maintained the capitalised initial letter for personal names, as apparently with the Dutch. It will be interesting to see if anyone knows whether or not the word 'christian' in Holland/Belgium is now going to be spelled with a lower case initial letter. Do any of our European mainland SIers know?

A

Agent001 Nov 3, 2005

By the way, it's a horror to read those old English texts where almost every noun is capitalized. In addition, the titles of the books then could fill a whole page!A pamphlet published by the Quakers bear the following title:"A true and faithful account of the most material passages of a dispute between some students of divinity (so called) of the university of Aberdeen, and the people called Quakers, held in Aberdeen in Scotland, in Alexander Harper his close (or yard) before some hundred of witnesses, upon the 14th day of the second month, called April, 1675, there being John Lesly, Alexander Sherreff, and Paul Gellie master of arts, opponents; and desendants upon the Quakers' part, Robert Barclay and George Keith: praeses for moderating the meeting, chosen by them, Andrew Thompson advocate; and by the quakers Alexander Skein, some time a magistrate of the city: published for preventing misreports by Alexander Skein, John Skein, Alexander Harper, Thomas Merser, and John Cowie; to which is added, Robert Barclay's offer to the preachers of Aberdeen, renewed and reinforced."