I appreciate the question...well said and unbiased.
It's a little difficult to answer because the bible isn't exactly a "book" in the traditional sense, in that it was not written and released all at once. It is a collection of scriptures and writings which were preserved and taught by the early Christian church. In addition, the scriptures were largely communicated verbally rather than in written form, as copies would have had to be hand-written. The church would have had a copy, but the average Christian wouldn't have had his own "bible" to carry around.
Even so, as a Christian, I think that people would react in much the same way they reacted in Christ's day....with violence and disbelief. Remember that neither Christ nor his disciples were received with open arms by everyone they came in contact with. They were continuously persecuted for their teachings, beaten, jailed, and eventually put to death. In our day and age, perhaps the physical abuse would be less prevalent, but I feel they would most certainly be ridiculed for their teaching. Even now in this forum, there are a substantial number of people who do nothing but ridicule and mock Christians for their believe in God.
To answer the second part of your question, the bible is considered to be a historical record of the times in which it was written. There are many secular researchers who have confirmed through separate sources that the bible's historical accounts are very accurate. Naturally, there are some events which cannot be confirmed, but those which can lend support to the bible as a credible source.
I don't feel that the bible is dated or irrelevent at all. The bible is essentially a blueprint for understanding God and for dealing with people. The bible is, in fact, all about people....how God views us and how we are to act toward God and each other. The events of the bible are only important in how they impact the lives of the people involved....revealing things about their character and the nature of God. It's true that the world in which Christ and the other biblical prophets lived looks very different from the world we live in today. However, the nature of people has not changed in thousands of years. Focus on the bible from that perspective and I think you'll find that it is incredibly relevent for this day and age.