A Baccalaureate Sermon 201
The omnipotence of God has no limitation which must
mean absolute need of aid from finite man; because from
all eternity the Divine Creator is perfectly self-sufficient
yet perfectly unselfish. Let us beware of and confute the
false teaching of pantheism which would make the self-
consciousness of God non-existent except as man grows
to be self-conscious; would deny that God is within Him-
self the Perfect Transcendent Being, and without needing
an eternal created universe in which to express Himself;
would end in the denial of the difference between man and
God, the denial of all personality, human and divine.
Against this subtle and destructive error we are to be on
guard; and we are to know that the Absolute and Perfect
God, whose creative activity means no defect in His own
nature and being, has made from the fullness of love the
finite human image; from the fullness of love giving him
the honour of a godlike destiny. Created not because neces-
sary to God, but because His unselfishness would call us
to association with Him, and because He would trust us to
ring true to His reliance and not misapply the treasures
He bestows, we are called to be His representatives and
His incorruptible servants in fulfilling His will and estab-
lishing His Kingdom.
The God who is never absent, even though we see Him
not with physical eye, trusts us to use in right ways the
perilous gift of freedom; and He seeks to evoke our nobility
not by despotism but by an inner inspiration. Created and
trusted as free beings, given a liberty of choice and so made
responsible—we are to have a share in the development of
the Divine purposes; and we are not to be drawn into any
false interpretation of our relation to God, nor be blind
to the self-sacrifice of God in risking the willfulness and sin
of man. Neither atheism nor fatalism is the solution of