"I have a creationist upbringing, that I have since rejected, however Chapter 2 & 3 of the Book of Genesis has subtle suggestions of the evolution of homo sapiens. I take most of the bible as a history book, after a fashion, created from the oldest tribal legends, and embellished with religious imagery. But there is a core material to it that might be interpreted as real history."

I think that "The Bible" as the story of Jesus- with rest of it as background information. I don't have a high regard the Bible, basically it seems badly written: The orginal writers were that talented as far writers go, and translations probably weren't very good. But the bible is important because it was widely read and could been the only book people in the past might have read- so the bible is important as a book to read from that prospective.
I also think the bible contains a certain amount wisdom which been passed down thousands of years- but basically it a book teaching the message of Christ- that's what's designed to do, that's what the most important aspect of it is and it does a fairly good job at doing this.