We all know that when writing about God, His name and all pronounce that relate to Him must be in all capital letters. This is because God is the only true God, and therefore writing His name in capital letters is also a sign of respect.
But what about Jesus? We all know that Jesus Christ is the son of God, should we always have to capitalize his name? What about his pronouns? Should it also be capitalized just as what we do for God? Well, let’s find out!
What Does the Name Jesus Mean?
The name “Jesus” in Hebrew means “God saves”. This is a very symbolic name because we know that Jesus is God’s son, and the name, “Jesus” through its meaning, shows that God is within His son’s existence. Making Him in the form of man to save us and have redemption for our sins.
How to Properly Write Jesus’ Name
Sometimes it can be confusing how to write Jesus’ name properly. Some people simply do not know if are we to capitalize the name “Jesus” and how to properly write his pronouns. Let’s tackle this briefly.
First off, Jesus is a name of an entity, and a proper noun therefore the first letter of the name should always be capitalized. It’s pretty much the same way you capitalize your name or the names of other people you know. Besides, just as we discussed earlier, the meaning of the name “Jesus” has God’s name written all over it, it refers directly to God Himself, therefore it should always be written with a capitalized first letter.
What is the Correct way to write the name, Jesus?
Is it Jesus’ or Jesus’s? This may seem a bit tricky, but it’s not as hard as you think.
Just like other names ending with an “s”, when writing an apostrophe plus “s” (Jess’) it can be seen as either a possessive form of the name or a contraction (”Jess is” or “Jess has”).
For example: In a contraction, it can be, Jess’s coming = Jesus is coming
Example of the possessive form: He is Jess’s cousin.
However, when we are talking specifically about the name of Jesus, there may have some exceptions. In ancient biblical or classical ways, names ending with the letter “s” in form of the possessive can be written in two ways. Both can be written with either apostrophe plus “s” or an apostrophe after the “s” on the name.
This is because traditionally the custom is to drop the last “s” when writing in possessive form with names already ending in “s”. But this has long been gone, and today, adding an apostrophe plus “s” or an apostrophe after the “s” is both accepted.
How to Decide how to write Jesus’s name?
Since both ways are universally acceptable, we think the best way to decide is to see how the name is being pronounced when read or said out loud. For example, if your pronunciation is “Jee-zuz-es life” then it would be wise to write that as “Jesus’s life” but if the pronunciation is “ Jee-uz” then you may opt to just add an apostrophe after the “s”.
Are Jesus’s Pronouns Capitalized?
It is normal for us to write the name of “God” and His pronouns with a capitalized first letter, as it shows a great deal of respect and acknowledgment that He is the one true God. But for Jesus, is it the same?
Well, Jesus is the son of God, and there is no rule that you should or shouldn’t capitalize His pronouns. Reverential capitalization is not universal and can vary from person to person, organization to organization. So at the end of the day, it is entirely up to you. Some people may find it disrespectful, but some may not. It all boils down to preference.