Bible Question: Hello Ray: please forgive me for my slowness in catching onto what you mean by this, I've been trying to follow this thread, but what do you mean by (h)oly (s)pirit as opposed to (H)oly (S)pirit? |
Bible Answer: Hi following him, You'll have to be observant here. I do not print (h)oly or (H)oly as you did in your question here, but rather, by the parentheses I am suggesting that one has a choice of interpretation. It is either holy or Holy. [That is, (h)Holy]. Your choice is holy spirit or Holy Spirit. [That is, (h)Holy (s)Spirit]. The Greek definite articles offer a choice of translating One or one; of "that one" or "that One". You have a choice personally of following that one or that One. That is, of following (h)Him. Now, I don't care if one chooses to put pronouns in lower case; most of us started our studies on the King James version of the Bible. We are used to the lower case used there. However, even in the King James, if the Holy Ghost is spoken of, capital letters are used. Pronouns of Deity should be capitalized to my mind, and I study from the NKJ and the NASB. I only hope that if one is following him, that the person counts Him as Deity in his mind and spirit. The Greek and Hebrew are not languages that differentiate between upper and lower cases; the choice of lower case "spirit" and upper case "Spirit" is determined by context and grammar. It is a matter of interpretation rather than translation. For instance, Romans 8:15 in my NASB Study Bible reads that "you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba, Father." The copy has a marginal note of [Or, the Spirit]. So here is the choice for you: "you have received a (s)Spirit of adoption as sons..." What is your choice in interpreting the verse? From the heart, Ray |