I agree, so is it possible (in the loose sense of the word) to be atheist and believe in the historical value of the bible but not the whole Christian connotation?
I see the bible as... say, an Aesop's Fable... there's no doubt that it has a lot of good morals to live by, but to call it the "TRUTH" is stretching it.
So, how would you explain it if Jesus lived, why did they treat him like some kind of god and write up a whole silly book about him?
I think it explains, to some extent, the instances of ESP, telekinesis and other seemingly unexplainable phenomena.