I fully agree with you that language can get in the way here. Did God create time itself, at least in part, for us to experience? Our knowledge of Him is in the context of time, so regardless of whether He does or does not experience time, we are meant to experience it and relate to Him through it. I think God wants us to understand Him to the extent of the abilities He gave us (including in time), even though we are not capable of understanding the full picture. Therefore, I believe this is a legitimate topic.
For me, this debate has been on whether or not God "changes His mind" in the way we experience time. Does God "react" to external stimuli (human actions) and do something different? While reiterating that God is not the author of evil, I would say that everything that has been, and is yet to be was pre-ordained by God in the beginning. The idea that God alters or changes His "plan" based on what humans do implies to me an admission from God that He was wrong about something. Tongue-in-cheek, I ask is God only human? :)
FK, notice how +Palamas soundly denies that we can become united with the "essence" of God.
That is the distinction I was "hoping" for, thanks for the clarification. :) I suppose this is another, accidental, example of language getting in the way ("as gods").
FK, I found this on a Bahai site, of all places. It speaks about apophatic theology and Byzantine contemplative theology. Give it a read and it may give you some insight into where the likes of Kosta and I are coming from. By the way, the "Pelikan" the author refers to is Yaroslav Pelikan, a great modern theologian who converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy.