Arach, while I respect your scholarly pursuits of knowing God, I might ask you whether or not God can indeed be "figured out."
I will say that studying the Bible sheds much insight on the Christian interpretation of God as well as the Jewish one. I think that beyond this, there actually is a human interaction with a living Spirit that is not defineable by any sort of logical means.
Still, I can appreciate your insights on the narrow mindedness (and hard heartedness, not to mention hard headedness) of the fundamentalist and literalist mindset. I don't know everything and, indeed, I sometimes feel as if I don't really know anything about God beyond my own personal experiences in communion with the Spirit.
All that I know is that I like the opportunity to communicate with you and with others here at EvC who are all very different. There are times when I am angry at some of you for the arguments that we all get involved with, but overall I believe that it is not time to shake the dust off of my sandels anytime soon.
Pecos, you will never become more skilled at evangelical apologetics by engaging people who agree with you. It is through engaging people who disagree with you that sharpens your effectiveness at communication.
When Jesus was talking to the Disciples, perhaps He was referring to them confronting other Jews. Was it not Paul that started the whole
heathen conversion thing? I could be wrong about this...feedback, please.