Sorry for the delay in posting. Besides having Real Life issues, Network Explorer has stopped working before I've entered my last two posts. I may have to do it piecemeal from now on.
Not a problem.
Time is irrelevant to God. Whether God is in control or not lacks context. Is God a micromanager? If so, then free will does not exist.
God created time so it is relevant, just not binding on him. When we look at creation we see organization and purpose. We can tell a few things about God's nature by looking at his creation. We can tell he is a God of order, a God of purpose, we can see there is a Meta-Narative and God uses time so we can see God's work thru history. We can invite God to micromanage our lives, or work contrary to his purpose for us. Free will does certainly exist, it is part of God's love for us.
Humans have endeavored to improve their control, but are a long way away. They take a few steps forward and a few back. Lately, it has been more than a few forward, and more than a few back.
This is alien to me. I think we agree there is a Creator. If so, and the Creator is loving, and purposeful, then each creation has a loving purpose for their life. Any attempt for the creation to be in control ruins our chance to fit into the loving purpose our Creator made us for. We have a phrase that fits, "the inmates are running the asylum." The very best thing in our lives is when God micromanages us. We (the inmates) mess it all up when we think we need to be in control.
Perhaps what you are saying is that Organized Religion essentially has failed since the Industrial Revolution. Parts of it have become irrelevant, parts have sold out, and the jihadists want to revert to the Dark Ages.
I would say modernism and more to the point Post Modernism has failed us since the Industrial Revolution. The Bible hasn't changed during each 'new' Post Modernist experiment. The Post Modernist have all failed and no matter how many times they say it, God is not dead. The Bible writen thousands of years ago predicts Post Modernist thought and gives us the Truth of it. As Solomon repeatly said, there is nothing new under the sun.
