Then again, just because folks thousands of years ago believed something does not make it so.  Right?  Mankind was still looking for answers and without such answers "God" was used in it’s place.  "God" was also used as way to control mankind - to set laws and enforce them by forcing people to imagine the ultimate penalties.  Througout history there have been many catastrophes.  Once science advanced we were able to determine the cause of these catastrophes.  Once the study of the nature of man progressed we were able to determine why there is murder, oppression, etc…  Do the catastrophes that happen today (ie. Tsunami, Katrina, Holocaust, etc…) happen as a result of some divine judgement or did that only happen in biblical times (or biblical tales)?

Sometimes I wonder if we take these books too literaly?