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.
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?
If you read all of the OT perhaps you'll see why I have an issue with the God portrayed in a literal reading of the text.
Yes, God created what we call good and evil. It's good and evil from only our perspective though, and the duality is an illusion. By having good and evil, we can gain experiential knowledge and grow the light of our Soul. A kid that's raised in the lap of luxury that gets everything they want and nothing bad happens to them, people usually don't like those types. It's easy for them to be bratty, ungrateful, and take their ease of life for granted. The bad of life is what matures us and spurs us to seek the good and create the good.
If someone hits another person, and they're immediately hit back, they learn not to hit so they won't get hit. They don't learn why it's a bad idea to begin with. By there being a pause in reaping what we sow, our thoughts and actions are returned to us and we view the flip-side of the equation. Walking in the shoes of a different perspective, and experiencing life lessons, we learn why things are bad. The slave owner in one life becomes an oppressed person in a next life, not exactly tit for tat, but concept for concept. Through many trials and tribulations we enter the kingdom of God, because everything, both good and evil are working for our overall good in driving us from the unknowing of the Alpha of Creation to the full knowing of the Omega in which we can be reunited back to God. The resurrection is a spiritual experience while we are still alive in the body, and not an event after we die. Everything in life is a learning opportunity, and even what we call evil has its place and reason.
I see free will choices being scattered across a set parameter, and while it could be said that we have free will, this free will is from our perspective and already factored into pre-determination. The world is exactly how God wants it at this time.