For centuries, theologians have been explaining the unknowable in terms of the-not-worth-knowing.
- H. L. Mencken

Many Bible scholars make no attempt to defend The Old Testament. This has actually been a matter of deep debate since the earliest days of Christianity.

I see. What is exactly the word of God is apparently a matter of debate. What are your criteria? Do they comport with those of theologians? Doesn't this worry you?

Many Christians either feel The Old Testament shouldn't be part of the Christian Bible or alternately view it as a merely historical (not necessarily factual) document read to contrast the world before Jesus with the world post-Jesus.

I'm unsure what your phrase " ... historical (not neccessarily factual) document ..." actually means. Forgive my truculence if I say you sound like you're trying to have it both ways. Also, it sounds as if you're arguing that the world before Jesus was, ahem, evil.

That is to say, many Christians (especially theologians) believe Jesus to be the image of TRUE divinity & Yahweh (or Yahu) to be a tribal war deity shared by the bulk of ancient Semitic people.

So, Yahweh is only a "tribal war deity"? Then why does his son merit any mention? After all, that's not my tribe.

By the way, if humans can decide who God and Jesus really are, doesn't that clearly paint the anthropogenic nature of both?

"This has actually been a matter of deep debate since the earliest days of Christianity."
Deep theological discussion:
Theo A: "Hey, this bit from the Tanakh makes me uncomfortable. This must mean that it didn't happen."
Theo B: "You mean that bit that Jesus and Paul mentioned in the sequel?"
Theo A: "Oh. Well this bit here in the Tanakh has no evidence for it. It's merely hearsay."
Theo B: "You mean like the New Testament?"
Theo A: "Crap."
[Buzz]
Theo Supervisor: "Quittin' time, everybody. Your paychecks are in the front. Good work. I'll see you all on Monday for another round of biblical navel-gazing, where half of you will prove Aquinas right and half will prove him wrong. The third half will prove him both right and wrong via semantic games and verbal gymnastics. Remember to bring your sneakers."

"That is to say, many Christians (especially theologians) believe Jesus to be the image of TRUE divinity & Yahweh (or Yahu) to be a tribal war deity shared by the bulk of ancient Semitic people."
It should be pointed out that nobody actually listen to theologians. Sure, when position X needs the veneer of intellectual thought behind it, theologian X's view will get a mention, but the theologian's God and the believer's God are two different things (and more and more so as time goes on. Spong comes to mind). Theology isn't religion, it's the science of never being wrong.