"The best book to read is " "?
I trust you have supplied the answer in your minds. But how do you spell it? Increasingly, and especially in Christian, even evangelical, publications and texts, I am reading "bible'.
Why? And " So?
"bible' with no capital "B' is an offence to me. It is not only a mis-spelling, but it also runs the risk of communicating a lack of respect. The name of this greatest of books is the "Bible', just as the name of the first day of the week is Sunday, and my name is Andrew. What other book has a title which is not capitalised? And surely evangelical Christians, who claim to take this book seriously and wish others to do so, should be careful about its name.
i might forgive you if you never capitalise any word: if you live in sydney nsw or cambridge uk, if you celebrate christmas in december, if you only ever spell your own name in lower case letters, and if your lord and saviour is jesus the christ.
or if u only rite sms + emails :-)
Why do many Christians these days so easily write "bible'? Certainly there is a general decline in the understanding of spelling, punctuation and grammar. Perhaps some people are influenced by the fact that the adjective "biblical' can be spelt without a capital. Some may be confused by the proliferation of translations, but it is still the Bible regardless of whether it is RSV, TNIV or ESV. Some may feel uncertain about how many words to capitalise in "Bible study group', although I have yet to see "friday fellowship', or "sunday services'. Others may be aware of expressions such as "the fisherman's bible', or "an indispensable cooking bible'. This flattery by imitation has created a common noun, "bible', meaning authoritative, comprehensive book (or collection of books?), which can reasonably be spelt with a lower case "b'.
Do some write "bible' knowingly and deliberately? A reaction, perhaps, against the days of the big, fat, gold-embossed, black leather "Holy Bible', carried around for thumping, or sanctified on the mantelpiece for inscribing family histories? Or an affirmation that it is the biblical text, the collection of 66 individual writings, and not the bound volume itself, which is God's word? Is there a comparison here with the freedom many feel in how we treat our Bibles, the physical objects themselves? This may be a deliberate contrast to Muslims' veneration of any copy of the Koran, which must never be treated with the disrespect of being placed on the floor or buried under other books, even if it is little read and largely incomprehensible. Or to the practice in some churches of carrying a big Bible in a procession up and down the aisle. Such motives are commendable, but do not, in my view, justify the misspelling, which too easily suggests ignorance or disrespect.
Please, when you are referring in text to that greatest of books which is God's authoritative, life-giving and life-changing Word, loved and respected through the centuries, translated into more languages than any other text, "inspired by God, profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in godliness", please show appropriate respect and do it with a capital "B'.
