However, all of this took place under the sovereign direction of God. The
time was ripe because God had brought humanity to the point where the time
was ripe. This of course raises other questions, such as "_Could_ not God
have made humanity ready for Jesus sooner?" I don't claim to have an
answer, but then I'm not omniscient :-). Like Scott, I have a problem with
the idea that God is an opportunist who waits for time and chance to bring
the right conditions about. The considerations He applies in choosing how
to accomplish His purposes may not be visible to us, but that doesn't mean
they don't exist.
Bill Hamilton
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
William E. Hamilton, Jr, Ph.D. | Staff Research Engineer
Chassis and Vehicle Systems | General Motors R&D Center | Warren, MI
William_E._Hamilton@notes.gmr.com
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX) | whamilto@mich.com (home email)