"(T)hrough 12 years of Catholic schooling, that God was all good, all knowing and all powerful. (This is, of course, the standard Judeo/Christian/Islamic God.) It was also accepted that God was eternal, unchanging"

You can not be trying to say that any being that can accomplish creation is not outside the understanding of mankind. Any "culture" sufficiently advanced will appear to operate as if by magic to a "primitive" culture.

12 years, huh, got you beat by one. Have you already forgotten one of the primary God questions we all asked? "Can God make a rock so big he can not pick it up?"