[Charles Henrickson]

If "Gentiles" refers to anyone "not a Jew", such as heathens or unsaved pagans.... why is the word capitalized as if it refers to a specific group?

The word is not capitalized in either the Hebrew (OT) or in the Greek (NT). Capitalization is not the issue. Context and meaning are the issue. An in-depth study of the use of the term "Gentiles" in both the OT and the NT makes plain that it cannot possibly mean the dispersed tribes of the northern kingdom. There are too many passages where such a meaning is clearly excluded. Do a search of the word, look up the passages, and you will see.

[high info voter]

You still haven't addressed the error of this statement.... "Everyone in the world who is not a Jew, that is, everyone who is not descended physically from the Old Testament patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--everyone else is a Gentile. It has to do with your physical descent, with your ethnic identity. "

It is not only the "Jews" who are descended from Abraham, but multitudes more (as the sands of the sea) who are descendents. Those were scattered into the world and are called by the prophet..."Israel"