Capitilization

[JustinHesychast]

This may sound kind of trivial, but I have seen this pointed out by Protestants as an argument against Orthodoxy being the Church, and that the Church is all denominations.

In the New Testament (maybe OT, not sure), the Church isn't capitalized while in Orthodox references it always is... Why?

[Dewi Sant]

Hmmm

I guess it is just habit on my part.
When I refer to the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, it is with a Capitol C. Thus, when referring to the Orthodox Church there is a Capitol.
If I were to refer to, let's say, the Methodist church, the denomination is in capitols but not the church.
Church of England is in capitols, but this is largely out of habit...it is also because of it's shortened form "CofE".

I also use the upper case C in situations when I refer to all those as Christians as being the Church.

ps. this is my view and practice and I accept that it is most probably heterodox. It is how I've been doing it for years, purely out of habit without correction.

[nutroll]

I may be wrong in this, as I am no Greek Scholar, but my understanding is that the earliest Greek texts don't have capitalized and uncapitalized letters. I think it was all in caps from what I recall. So any determinations on capitalization would be after the fact. Included in this would be capitalizing pronouns when they refer to God, a practice that Protestants would no doubt have no problem with. I think the argument you were given is much ado about nothing. Whether one capitalizes Church or not has very little to do with the text itself, and everything to do with one's view of the church/Church.

[Oblio]

There were also no spaces and common words were abbreviated. Both practices are a form of data compression to save media.

[Kristos]

I capitalize it because of it's Divine nature - like I also capitalize Christ, God, Son, Word, Father - more for emphasis I guess. Of course, in many language all nouns are capitalized.

[buzuxi02]

If this is the best argument they can offer, then we have nothing to worry about.