Quote - >> Oh come now...  you actually call this a REASON why God is how He is? Because of who WE were He acted like this?

I dont think that was Tom's point, actually. If anything, what he's saying is that our particular vision of God is coloured by how we act, not the other way around. During the early, more primitive days of the times described in the OT, God was seen as a reflection of ourselves -- easy to ire, vengeance-driven -- because that's who we needed Him to be, not the other way around.

Pretty close :)

I was thinking along the lines of how early man, while sentient, was pretty unsophisticated, and assuming that the Old Testament is an attempt at a historical record (not all religious folks believe it to be any such thing)? Well, if you're an omniscient being, and you have to get, say, a Babylonian's attention, you do it rough and hard, and in unequivocal terms. Subtlety was not exactly a dominant trait in many early societies (Hell, literacy wasn't even a dominant trait). Now, getting the attention of someone who did more during their childhood than simply get beaten, fend off wild animals, and work their asses off just to stay alive? Well, it's easier to get the more complex ideas across.

/P