But please understand that, to me, they are doctrines of men which I eschew across-the-board.
And yes, I am Christian. God knows, and He is the one who matters.
I AM is a Name of God. Timelessness would apply.
Thus the two statements, that God knows us from the foundation of the world (and to the end, btw) - and that there was a "time" we were not - are not mutually exclusive.
But please understand that, to me, they are doctrines of men which I eschew across-the-board
Then be consistent and start with your own.
Christianity has its bounds and doesn't spill into other religions. Some people are universalists and I recognize that, but one cannot be a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddihist or a Shinto all at the same time and call himself a Christian.
Also, it is one thing to recognize that all religions contain what Kolokotronis calls "sporoi" (seeds) of truth; it's an altogether different thing to form a personal religion out of cherry-picking those doctrines of men that you do like and eschewing those you don't.
Thus the two statements, that God knows us from the foundation of the world (and to the end, btw) - and that there was a "time" we were not - are not mutually exclusive
Yes they are. What they are definitely not is mutualy inclusive, as some people make them. There was no time when Adam was not known to God, but there was a time when Adam was not.
God's knowledge of Adam is not the same as Adam's created existence, for God actually made Adam and imparted life into him even though He knew Adam (as an idea) all long. In other words, God's knowledge (idea) of Adam is not equivalent to Adam's creation.
The (fore)knowledge does not impart the "breath of life" into a lifeless form.
I AM is a Name of God
I AM means Life. "I am" is also our reality. It means we are alive. Adam could not say "I am" until God created him and gave him life.