barry1@ihlpa.att.com (Barry O Olson) (09/14/90)
> Why do people write "christian," with a lower case "c," rather than > "Christian," with a capital "C"? > > I was taught that the names of religions and the designations of their > adherents were to be capitalized. I notice that people write > "Buddhist," not "buddhist." I think it is a non-issue. > [Carelessness? "Christian" with capital C is the normal usage. The > only time I've seen "christian" used intentionally is to characterize > views based loosely on some of Christ's teaching, but without fully > accepting him as savior. --clh] I use small c quite often. I don't know why, i don't think it matters much. I use a capitol for Father, Jesus, and HS because they are to me, titles of majesty worthy of a capitol distinction. Barry Olson
lvron@earth.lerc.nasa.gov (Ronald E. Graham) (09/18/90)
[There was some discussion about the significance of Christian vs. christian. --clh] With all due respect to both Mr. Olson and to the moderator, may I point out that "christian" (with the small c) is often used in the form of an adjective (to modify words like "values", for instance), while Christian (with the big C) is, of course, a "proper" noun. Another note about the adjective: it shows the way the term "Christian" has been watered down over the years. The fact that the word has been turned into an adjective, describing things instead of people. (Per the mention of Antioch in the book of Acts, the original use of the word was meant to flame followers of Christ, and we've lost that too.) C. S. Lewis points this out in _Mere Christianity_, comparing the use of "christian" to that of "gentleman", which originally was one who owned a piece of land and had his own coat-of-arms. RG