Weblogs: An intimate God

Cantánima: An intimate God: "Having learned a little Russian, I sometimes think in Russian; so, when I ask God (or my wife) to forgive me, I sometimes murmur in Russian, Прости меня (prosti menya) just as I sometimes say, miserere mei (Latin), or perdonami (Italian), or forgive me.

I had occasion to say this yet again recently, and it occurred to me that Прости is the familiar form of the Russian word, not the formal (which would be Простите, prostitye). From here my thoughts passed to how many American Christians refer to God as 'thou'. This happens regardless of denomination. It is probably due to how religion seems to retain obsolete manners of speech (Latin mass and Old Slavonic, for example). In any case, 'thou' has a sound of reverence, of respect, of admitting God's distance and lordship. To use 'you' sounds a little disrespectful to the ears of some.

This wasn't always the case. I have read that the reason older Bible translations use 'thou' instead of 'you' is the same reason that Italian translations use 'tu' instead of 'lei', Spanish translations use 'tu' instead of 'usted', and Russian translations use ты (ti) instead of вы (vwi): at the time, 'thou' was the familiar, intimate address, whereas 'you' was the formal, respectful address. With God, Christians should be familiar, not formal."