Many are fascinated by a myriad of alternatives; rock, medicine, lifestyles, and third parties. But an alternative Bible?

The Other Bible, edited by Willis Barnstone, is a collection of rejected or forgotten scriptures from a variety of ancient Jewish, Christian and Gnostic sources.

Barnstone, a poet, Pulitzer nominee and literature professor at the University of Indiana, devoted many years collecting these arcane religious writings from sources such as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

It challenged some of my preconceived notions of Christendom. But my faith in the authenticity of the Bible was to be strengthened rather than shaken.

I started by reading the introduction. Barnstone obviously has some preconceived notions of his own.

He assumes the enclosed writings should have been included in the Bible of which the world is currently familiar.

Some examples of alternative books and epistles in this 700-page work include familiar-sounding titles such as the Gospel of Thomas, dramatic titles like Zohar: the Book of Radiance (from the Kabbalah) and some downright odd ones such as Hermes Trismegistus on God's Bisexuality (a later Pagan work).

"Today, free of doctrinal structures, we can read the "greater bible" of the Judeo-Christian world," Barnstone writes.

I question to which "doctrinal structures" he refers.

The 66 books of the Holy Bible (and an additional 14 or so in the Apocryhpha) were chosen by various church councils throughout the centuries in order to determine which books were divinely-inspired and pertain to the theme of the deliverance of God's children.

In that case, I am thankful the doctrinal structure was in place to narrow the selection -- it's hard enough to encourage people to read the current Bible as it is!

Most of the books, especially the Christian Apocrypha section, were written centuries after the events described, causing me to wonder if many of the accounts are mere afterthoughts and revisions of the previously recorded scriptures.

If this is true, then I can see clearly from where some religious concepts, not specifically outlined in scripture, come.

Ever wonder from where the idea of seven heavens and seven layers of hell originates? It's in the Haggadah, which is a cross between Pagan mysticism with the book of Genesis.

Many of Dante's ideas as expressed in Inferno stem from Catholic tradition, which in turn may have stemmed from alternative literature, surviving only in church teachings and oral tradition.

You won't find it in that Gideon's Bible you stole from a motel during your last road trip.

Ever argue about when life begins?

According to the Other Bible, the angel Lailah implants the human sperm with a soul shortly before conception.

Not every book included is a fraudulent attack on earlier writings, but Barnstone assumes the opposite -- that all the featured works are equal.

Many are multi-page scare tactics, making the book of Revelation seem like a Hanna-Barbera cartoon in comparison.

Prepare to learn how you will be hung from your tongue and whipped by demons for an eternity in a sea of excrement for not obeying a certain law.

And forget about equal rights for women: "Every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (Gospel of Thomas, verse 114)

The sophisticated reader should give this exhaustive work a read. But if you're not familiar with the religions of the world, interpreting the prose may prove a daunting task.

And if you expect to find this other Bible to be a more politically-correct version of your grandma's old black book, prepare to be sorely offended.

For now, I'll stick with my King James Version.