All of which, though well-argued, proves nothing except that a) humans can imagine some pretty extreme things, and b) the probable existence of a First Cause.

Neither of which I am disposed to argue against, since both make perfect sense.

However, this still brings us no nearer to understanding the nature of said First Cause. Is this the stern and unbending I AM of Jewish lore? The benevolent (if somewhat curmudgeonly) God the Father of the Christians? The Brahman of the Hindus? The Tao? The mindless demon Azathoth?Q? Or something as utterly beyond our understanding and perceptions as we are below its?

Because the moment you endow the First Cause with a purpose, a personality and an agenda we can understand, you bring it down to our level. Also, if you conceptualise it as a big glowing blob of energy (mental or spiritual), or a flowing river of existence, it becomes a material phenomenon, subject to discovery, measurement and study.

This is the error of both the theist and the materialist - the attempt to define and characterise something which is far beyond our ability to understand.