Sentence:  There is an ancient and venerable tradition in the church ( which derives , however , from the heritage of the Greeks rather than from the Bible ) that God <WSD>is</WSD> completely independent of his creation and so has no need of men for accomplishing his work in the world . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)