God in the Grammar

Becoming passive to God’s grace

06/14/21

Matthew 5:1-12 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Good writers positively prefer the “active voice,” while they assiduously avoid the “passive voice.” Are you familiar with those two grammatical constructions? See if you can tell which is better: active or passive voice in these two sample sentences. Here is the passive voice: “The Diamondhogs were beaten by North Carolina in the Super Regionals.” That does not sound very good, does it? Now, here’s the active voice: “The Razorbacks came back in the final inning to beat the Wolfpack.” See how much better active voice sounds? Good grammarians (as well as Hog fans) always prefer “active voice” over “passive voice” because the construction is clearer and more cogent.

The bible, however, shows a decided preference for the passive voice rather than the active voice. Indeed, in the sacred scriptures we discover a unique grammatical construction called “the divine passive.” In the typical passive voice in writing the subject of the sentence is being acted upon by someone else, like the Hogs being beaten by the Wolfpack. In the divine passive of the bible, however, human beings are the subjects who are being acted upon by God. And what is most fascinating is that God is not even mentioned at all. He is implied and hidden.

We find perhaps the most eloquent example of the divine passive in today’s gospel from Matthew 5, the “Sermon on the Mount.” See if you can hear the “divine passive voice” in the Beatitudes; see if you can find God in the grammar. Jesus said: “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Did you noticed how the subject of the sentence, "the Blessed" (me and you), are being acted upon by an invisible Agent who is not mentioned, namely, God?

God will comfort those who mourn; God will give the inheritance of land to the meek; and God will show mercy to the merciful. In other words, good writers end up being bad theologians. Why? Well, because they miss the divine passive voice; they miss God in the grammar. This is one reason St. Augustine - who studied rhetoric, that is, good grammar - initially turn up his nose at reading the bible. He thought the bible’s proclivity for the passive voice was bad grammar; that is, until Augustine discovered the divine passive voice (God’s grace) in the Bible and in his own life. Someday, read St. Augustine's "Confessions" if you want to see the irresistible power of the passive voice.

Folks, let me point out just two practical applications of learning about the divine passive for us today. In 1899 Pope Leo XIII wrote a letter called “Testem benevolentiae nostrae” to Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore. Among other concerns, the Holy Father warned of an over-activism in the spiritual life, which he called “Americanism.” (Yeah, Americanism.) That is, we Americans, perhaps prodded by the Puritan work ethic, tend to over-emphasize what we do to grow as Christians and de-emphasize God’s grace. We say things like “God helps those who help themselves.” That may be good grammar, but it is bad theology. The divine passive reminds us that God, the invisible Agent, is acting on us and making possible anything good we ever do. The divine passive helps us to avoid the heresy called “Americanism.”

Secondly, discovering the divine passive voice is one of the surest signs of growing in the spiritual life. When I go home to visit my parents my father often reminisces over his long life and his many blessings. At some point he always states: “God is the One who has made all this possible.” I have to confess that statement really irritates me more than a little because I want to correct him and say: “But YOU did a lot to make all those blessings possible, too, dad!”

But maybe my father can see something (or rather Someone) that I am blind to, namely, the divine passive voice in his life. My father can see God in the grammar of his life, acting on him and blessing him like Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount. If you are wondering if you are progressing in the spiritual life, if you are becoming a saint, just ask yourself if you prefer using the active voice or the passive voice when you talk about your relationship to God. The spiritually mature see more and more of what God does and less and less of what they do.

Next time you are reading the bible, see if you can catch the divine passive voice in sentences like in the Sermon on the Mount. More importantly, see if you can find the divine passive voice in your own life like my father can. It might make you wince if you are a stickler for good grammar. But it might make you smile if you are trying to be a saint. And it might make you feel a little better about the Razorback loss last night.

Praised be Jesus Christ!