Bible’s Not the Last Word, Anthology Concludes : Articles by historians, theologians and researchers challenge the accuracy of the Scriptures.

Anthropologist William Edelen makes his case for “erasing religious illiteracy,” claiming that “the vast majority of the mythological formulas attached to Jesus were borrowed from Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Egypt, Babylon and the Greek Mystery religions.”

Author John E. Remsburg says that “a religious enthusiast of Galilee, named Jesus, was the germ of this mythical Jesus Christ. But this is an assumption rather than a demonstrated fact. Certain it is, this person, if he existed, was not a realization of the Perfect Man, as his admirers claim.”

A.J. Mattill Jr., an author and professor of biblical studies, takes creationists to task, writing that they “are blind to the fact that they also serve a cruel God who created this coldblooded system where life feeds on life, where the strong destroy the weak, and where it is either kill or be killed, eat or be eaten.”

So sayeth “The Book Your Church Doesn’t Want You to Read.”

Edelen, Remsburg and Mattill are among 40 historians, theologians and researchers who have contributed articles to this illustrated 446-page anthology, which challenges the accuracy of the Bible.

In addition to examining the origins of religions, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Bible, Jesus and religious doctrine, “The Book Your Church Doesn’t Want You to Read” (Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, $19.95) offers a former priest writing about sexual abuse among clergy and even comedian-author Steve Allen on women’s rights.

The majority of the writings have appeared in print elsewhere, but editor Tim Leedom of Newport Beach says about 20% of the authors have tailored articles specifically for the book, which was published in August.

Leedom will join Allen and fellow contributors Edelen, Rocco Errico, Gerald Larue, Bill Lindley, Jordan Maxwell, Arthur Melville and Alan Snow for a signing from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Barnes & Noble in Fashion Island, 953 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.

Despite the book’s obviously controversial nature, most reaction has been “very positive because our spin on this is religious literacy,” Leedom says.

Basically, he says, “the book can’t be conceived as a direct attack on the church. It’s just trying to provide a data base to people who have made belief the center plate of their existence. And the contention of this book is that a lot of religionists and churches are terribly misinformed because they haven’t really looked beyond the Bible.”

Through the book, Leedom says, “we show that there are no original stories in the Bible. From Jesus to the flood to crucifixions stories to the end of time, these are all basically Xeroxes of religions that preceded Christianity by three or four thousand years . . . and we tried to provide evidence for that so people can see the Bible in the real context that it is in.”

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Book Signings. Beverly Bass (“The Hotel del Coronado Cookbook”) will sign from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday at Barnes & Noble, 1870 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa. . . . Emily Brightwell (“The Ghost and Mrs. Jeffries”) will sign from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Mystery Ink, 332 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. . . . Jerome Doolittle (“Head Lock”) and Sarah Shankman (“He Was Her Man”) will sign at 4 p.m. Saturday at Book Carnival, 348 S. Tustin Ave., Orange. . . . Dan Vincent (“Pet Peeves”) will sign from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Fahrenheit 451 Books, 540 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. Also at Fahrenheit: Marsha Landreth (“A Clinic for Murder”) and Bruce Jones (“In Deep”) will sign from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday. . . . Joan Jobe Smith (“Jehovah Jukebox”) will sign from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Courtyard Books, 14961 Holt Ave., Tustin. . . . Albert J. Fredman (“How Mutual Funds Work”) will sign and hold a seminar from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Bookstar, 3005 El Camino Real, Tustin. . . . Children’s book illustrators Daniel San Souci, Julie Downing and Elisa Kleven will sign from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Chemers Gallery, 17300 17th St., Costa Mesa.

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Author Talk. Best-selling author Douglas Adams (“A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”) will speak at 7:30 p.m. today in Crystal Cove Auditorium at UC Irvine. General admission: $10. A book-signing will follow the lecture. Ticket information: (714) 856-5000.

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Reader’s Theater. A reader’s theater presentation of “A Man for All Seasons” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Dana Niguel Library, 33841 Niguel Road, Monarch Beach.

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Poetry Readings. Los Angeles poet Paul Vangelisti will read at the PEN Orange County meeting at 7 p.m. Friday at the Bear Street Cafe in Crystal Court, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa. . . . Mauro Monteiro will read at 8 p.m. Friday in the Fullerton Museum Center, 301 N. Pomona Ave., Fullerton. Cost: $3. . . . Military veterans Allen Brooks, Steve Brown, Joseph Cowels, John Harrell, Philip (Moki) Martin and Dean Ott will present a “Veteran’s Perspective” reading at 8 p.m. Saturday in Argyros Forum at Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. Cost: $4.

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Crime Sisters. Book publicist Anita Halton and literary attorney Louise Healey will speak at the Orange County Sisters in Crime meeting at 3 p.m. Sunday at Irvine University Park branch of the Orange County Public Library, 4512 Sandburg Way, Irvine.