As Bible scholars have studied the texts of the New Testament, many have come to the conclusion that a historical man named Paul was not the author (whether writing himself or by dictation) of all the letters bearing his name. The six disputed letters of Paul includes: Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, and Titus. Even the Catholics acknowledge this at https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Paul-Disputed.htm.
What's up with texts claiming the name of Paul in the Bible, but it not actually being him? Was the name Paul pseudonym a group of people wrote under? Did people just lie about who their writing was from to give what they wrote prominence among people who viewed Paul as an authority? Interesting that the Pastoral Epistles in the NT are fraudulent.
This is exactly how I know what is true, I ask Him. Some revelations have taken most of my life to be connected and I'm still being prepared for others. I learn even more by asking Him to read His word with me.
It always comes down to the heart with God. He speaks to His creation and delights in it.
That's why I reject a literal interpretation of the Bible. I find such a view completely at odds with any kind of a loving or even competent God. The stories in the OT portray God as an angry and whiny emotionally unstable petty micromanaging tyrant and mass murderer. Having all the power to anything it wants but continually failing, whining, and going on hateful rants. It's not convincing that's the God of creation talking.
Symbolically though, the Hebrew texts jam packed with stuff. The Israelites came from a group of Canaanites and created a symbolic backstory. Much how George Washington was said to cut down a cherry tree when he didn't, the guys that wrote the Hebrew texts used things that the people were familiar with to create a mythology to base society on. The Greeks and Romans did not integrate their mythology into the fabric of their society like the Hebrews and that's why it is still around.
God is infinite and beyond comprehension. I find it ridiculous to think God's ultimate plan for the world would be to create a problem and then sacrifice itself to itself to fix the problem, and blame its creation for being the way he created it and has it to be. If God created mankind to have a relationship with it as Christians say, and even one person ends up in some kind of hellish existence not in relationship with God, then God failed to accomplish what it set out to do. I don't believe God's a failure, and that's one reason I don't buy into a Jesus-God sacrifice for sins.
This is a lot to unpack and I'm happy to continue this conversation. I can tell you I agree that God is not a whiny tempermental baby and I would like to help you better understand Him as explained in His word. And I can tell you what I think:
God created a perfect creation, angels, earth and everything in it and then humans but He gave all sentient creatures freewill, it is the cost of real love, and knowing this risk, He thought it worthwhile, so I do too.
He has never failed and He is a personal God intimately involved with His creation and He sacrificed Himself to keep us because only He can love us best.
I'll be honest, the way God brags about defeating the Levantine, a mere sea creature in Job, just makes him out to be a being limited in power and size. Defeating a sea creature shouldn't be anything noteworthy for a omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient being that made the stars and the universe.
I am a Christian btw, that passage in Job always struck me as odd and limiting the magnificence of God.
God defeating evil is the greatest thing ever!
https://biblehub.com/topical/t/the_destruction_of_leviathan.htm
How much of the OT have you read? God's Word is all around us and within us. As you say, His truth is alive and living. He speaks through people's hearts and is a personal God because it dwells within us and we are its children. A book telling us what God wants or God's truth is not necessary. I don't need a book to teach me about morality when I can see how my actions affect others around me. I don't need a book to teach me right from wrong because I can reflect on my actions to see what's beneficial and not beneficial. I can have the foresight to gauge what kind of outcomes my actions will lead to. When God speaks to people through His Word, He's not speaking to people through unliving words on paper, but through the heart with the experiences of life that we undergo.
God created the light and the darkness, good and evil. Through the struggles in duality comes maturity and that leads to Wholeness. Creation is perfect the way it is. Angels are symbolic for the Natural Laws governing our world. Earth is the school house of God. Everything in it is a projection of our own Mind which serves as a bio-feedback machine to help us grow by returning to us the fruits of what we sow. Freewill exists within the parameters of God still being in control.
I don't fully agree with everything you've said but I think there's common ground.
I read the bible because God wrote it for me to have, I haven't read it all but I do know His heart better the more I read it. For me it's a way to get closer to Who He Is and not just that He Is.
Did God create evil or is it the risk of free will?