Im not sure what your asking for. The role it takes in my life is that i believe it and follow it. I believe the part where it says. "And God said let there be light"! and all the rest.

To understand that one needs to also know that the Old Testament is the Word of God. The Old Testament isn't just a history book but a witness to the world of the coming Messiah. In it there are over 300 prophecies given of the Messiah; signs that could only be fulfilled by one person. These prophecies were revelations from God that He would come and bring salvation to the world. When you reach the final book of Malachi you reach the end of those revelations and then there is a pause. You turn the page to the New Testament and we begin to read from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John just how Jesus fulfilled those prophecies. John wrote "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God" (John 1:1) God had come to the world in fulfillment of those prophecies of old. As we read the New Testament we find the teachings of Jesus, the Son of the Living God. God had come and wasn't just speaking through prophets but was teaching people the message of grace and salvation. In fulfillment of some of those prophecies He was bruised and broken for man and lifted up to die so that we might live. His death wasn't the end but the beginning of hope for us. Jesus rose from the grave proving His claim of deity. He is God. He gave the charge to those He left behind to teach the gospel the ends of the earth and then we begin to read the inspired writings of those men who went out to teach God's message of hope to a fallen world. The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16 that "All scripture is God breathed." They wrote under the inspiration of the Spirit of God and so what we have in the New Testament is God's Word spoken both directly and through inspiration. Here also is a link that lists prophecies of Christ and the fulfillment of them in the New Testament era. Link to prophecies fulfilled by Jesus: http://bibleprobe.com/365messianicprophecies.htm

I can't speak for other people but I believe the Old Testament as well as the New Testament are the word of God. I believe this because I started to really read what was in the bible. I read it cover to cover. It came alive. It is indescribable how I felt. I eventually gave my entire life to Jesus and I have never, ever, even for one second regretted it. God speaks to me through His word. I find comfort in it and I find answers to questions, good advice on how to live my life, inspiration in the lives of the faithful, encouragement; what else can I say. It is for me a the living word of God.

Some people believe it because they were taught from a young age that it is. Others believe it because it gives meaning to their lives and answers questions for them. They don't know this, they may believe it, they may think they know it, but the truth is nobody knows the ultimate truth.

some christians have been told that the new testament should be believed over what the old testament says, this is a belief taught by some of christendom's churches. i believe the entire bible to be inspired of God. there are many prophecies (in the better known section of the bible referred to as the hebrew scriptures)that have not been fulfilled yet. i believe in the words of the apostle paul who said in the letter to timothy chapter three verse sixteen: "all scripture is inspired of God..." this is found in the greek scriptures, otherwise known as the new testament.

What many people tend to forget ( if indeed they ever knew ) is that God's word was and is being spoken from the very beginning of the universe and will be spoken for the rest of infinity. What we call the bible is but a very small part of what God is saying. Unfortunately for us, it's one of the few things we have where humans wrote down what they heard of what God was speaking. Also unfortunately, other humans heavily edited what the hearers wrote, thus changing and limiting what we know of today as the Bible.