Style Guide - Religion

Christianity
Predominantly religious references in History.uk.com are Christian.
Christians believe there is only one god and God reveals himself in three 'persons': Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit (capitals for the Trinity). The Bible is the Holy Book, it is divided into the Old Testament, which incorporates the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament, which details the life of Jesus and a selection of beliefs and writings of the early church.

The Christian Church
 Use capitals for types of Church, e.g., the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, the United Reformed Church, the Methodist Church, the Church Army, etc. 
Also capital the Church in context of the institution (but not adjectivally, as in “the vicar accused church authorities yesterday ...”). For individual churches, write, e.g., St James's Church, Bighampton, or simply St James's, Bighampton.

Bishops
Note: Anglican bishops are consecrated, Roman Catholic bishops ordained.
Anglicans: by convention, the names of bishops and archbishops always follow the title of their office, e.g., the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey; the Archbishop of Barchester, the Most Rev John Smith; or (for diocesan bishops), the Bishop of Barchester, the Right Rev John Smith.
Roman Catholic: archbishops, at first mention, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Rev Patrick Kelly; subsequent mentions Archbishop Kelly or the archbishop; bishops, first mention the Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth, the Right Rev Christopher Budd, thereafter Bishop Budd or the bishop.
Diocese, capital in specifics, such as Diocese of Chichester or the Guildford Diocese, but lower case in general use, and lower case diocesan.

Junior clergy
Christian priests, deacons, ministers, rectors, vicars of all denominations except Roman Catholic or Orthodox (see below) should be e.g. the Rev Joseph Brown at the first mention, thereafter Mr Brown. Do not write the Rev Brown or (even worse) Rev Brown. A clergyman and his wife are referred to as the Rev Joseph and Mrs Brown. For women clergy, write the Rev Joan Faith, thereafter Mrs Faith or Miss Faith.
Roman Catholic and Orthodox clergy should be Father Justin Hope at first mention (avoid the ugly Fr abbreviation), thereafter Father Hope (Catholic), but Father Justin (Orthodox). Also use Father with Benedictines, e.g., Father Goode, not Dom Goode.

Christian terms
Use the capital for the Bible (but not for biblical), the Cross, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Gospels, (Requiem) Mass, (Holy) Communion, Eucharist, Blessed Sacrament, etc.
Use lower case for churchgoer, ordination, baptism, confirmation, last rites, psalms (but the Book of Psalms). Also lower case matins, evensong.  
Biblical references are written thus: II Corinthians ii, 2; Luke iv, 5. Books of the Bible take capitals, e.g., Book of Job.

Pope, the
Not usually necessary to give his full name after identifying which Pope (unless several Popes are mentioned in a section), but always capital. Note papacy, pontiff (lower case).

Islam is the religion of the Muslims. 
Islamic is interchangeable with Muslim as the adjective, though normally use Islamic with religion and fundamentalism, Muslim with architecture, politics, etc.
Muslims believe there is only one God, called "Allah". Allah's last prophet was Muhammad. Muslims are guided to follow Allah's will by the holy book, the Qur'an (capital), which Muslims regard as the unaltered word of God.

Hindu for religious or ethnic contexts (an adherent to Hinduism, or relating to Hinduism); but use Hindi for language context (the Hindi language).
Hinduism is the name given to a family of religions and cultures that began and still flourish in India. Hindus do not separate religion from other aspects of life. Hinduism is a complete approach to life that involves social class, earning a living, family, politics, diet, etc. Hindus believe that God is in everything, it would not make sense to separate religious things from everything else.

Judaism
Jews are divided according to their beliefs and practices and according to their racial origins, as either having roots in central Europe (Ashkenazi Jews) or Spain and the Middle East (Sephardi Jews). The main divisions of belief and practice are as follows: Orthodox and 'Ultra-Orthodox' Jews, Hasidic Jews, Reform Jews and Humanistic Judaism (capitals).

Buddhism
Buddhism is a complex religious and philosophical tradition which stretches back more than 2,500 years.
Buddhism has no unique creed, no single authority, no single sacred book. It focuses on each individual seeking to attain enlightenment.

Sikhism
Sikhs believe that there is a single, all-powerful God, who created the universe and everything in it.
The principal Sikh scripture is the Adi Granth (capitals), often called the Guru Granth Sahib (capitals). Sikhs believe that the words of these scriptures are the present day embodiment of the Sikh Guru and they treat the book with the respect and devotion that they would a human Guru.
The view that Sikhism is a variety of Hinduism is completely wrong, and gives great offence to Sikhs.

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