New spelling guidelines from a top language institute break with tradition, Orthodox clerics have said

Writing 'God' in lowercase is sinful and disrespectful, clerics from the Russian Orthodox Church have said, responding to new spelling guidelines issued by Russia's leading linguistic authority.

In comments to the media on Friday, the Vinogradov Russian Language Institute, which operates under the Russian Academy of Sciences, stated that while 'God' should be capitalized in religious texts, lowercase usage is acceptable in everyday expressions such as 'thank God' or 'for the love of God'.

In an interview with Abzats Media, Archpriest Aleksandr Ilyashenko argued that not capitalizing the first letter reflects the lingering influence of Soviet-era atheist ideology.

"In my opinion, this is a sin, an expression of disrespect and ingratitude to the Lord," he said. "It is very sad that some scientists have [the opposite] opinion. I think it is unacceptable."

Father Alvian Tkhelidze, a priest and prominent religious blogger, said traditional Russian usage calls for capitalization even in idiomatic phrases.

"For Christians, saying 'thank God' is not a stock phrase, but an act of honoring the Creator," he wrote on Telegram.

On Saturday, Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansky, the rector of the Church of St. Tatiana at Moscow State University, also criticized the recommendation. He insisted that the word 'God' should be capitalized even in common expressions, adding that lowercase usage is only appropriate when referring to pagan gods.

Some Russian writers, including Fyodor Dostoevsky, used the lowercase spelling in their literary works.

Anastasia Solomonova, the dean of the Philology Faculty at the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, noted that lowercase usage became more common after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution - not only due to atheist propaganda, but because the Soviet authorities no longer recognized the Christian God as the supreme authority.

In 2022, the Russian Education Ministry issued guidance recommending the capitalization of terms such as 'God', 'Lord', 'Holy Trinity', 'Holy Ghost', 'Creator', 'Church', and 'Providence' when used in a religious context.

(RT.com)