be a "co-worker with God in the work
of creation."(518) Only at those grave moments when his own powers fail
him, he still feels in the humility of faith that his ancient God is still
near, "a very present help in trouble," and that "the Guardian of Israel
neither slumbereth nor sleepeth."(519)

Philosophy cannot tolerate the removal of the dividing line between the
transcendent God and finite man. Hence the relation of man's free will and
divine foresight cannot be solved by any process of reasoning. But when
religion proclaims a moral government of the world, then man, with his
moral and spiritual aims, attains a place in Creation akin to the Creator.
Of course, so long as he is mentally a child and has no clear purpose,
Providence acts for him as it does for the animal with its marvelous
instinct. Through His chosen messengers God gives the people bread and
water, freedom and victory, instruction and law. The wondrous tales
describing the divine protection of Israel in its early life may strike us
as out of harmony with the laws of nature, but they are true portrayals of
the experience of the people. Whatever happened for their good in those
days had to be the work of God; they had not yet wakened to the power
hidden in their own soul. Their heroes felt themselves to be divine
instruments, roused by His spirit to perform mighty deeds or to behold
prophetic visions. It is God who battles through them. It is God who
speaks through them. Both their moral and spiritual guidance works from
without and above. At this stage of life autonomy is neither felt nor
desired. When man awakens to moral self-consciousness and maturity, this
inner change impresses him as an outer one; the change in him is
interpreted as a change in God. He feels that God has withdrawn behind His
eternal laws of nature and morality which work without direct
interference, and in his new sense of independence he thinks that he can
dispense with the divine protection and forethought. As if mortal man can
ever dispense with that Power which has endowed him with his capacity for
worthy accomplishment! Thus in times of danger and distress man turns to
God for help; thus at every great turning point in the life of an
individual or nation the idea of an all-wise Providence imbues him with
new hope and new security. And in all these cases the great lesson of
providential direction is typified in the history of Israel as related in
the Bible.

10. The idea of