Teachings in The New Testament Found in The Old Testament

Some people claim that "Yahweh" is evil or that The Old Testament is evil, but there are many parallels between The Old Testament and The New Testament.

Matthew 25:39 (New Testament)
"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Proverbs 24:29 (Old Testament)
"Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work."

Matthew 5:44 (New Testament)
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"


Leviticus 19:18 (Old Testament)
"Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD."

Matthew 5:5 (New Testament)
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

Psalm 37:11 (Old Testament)
"But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."

Matthew 5:44 (New Testament)
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

Proverbs 25:21 (Old Testament)
"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:"

Luke 14:11 (New Testament)
"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."


Proverbs 29:23 (Old Testament)
"Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor."

Matthew 26:52 (New Testament)
"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."

Genesis 9:6 (Old Testament)
"Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind."

Colossians 3:8 (New Testament)
"But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."

Psalm 37:8 (Old Testament)
"Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil."

1 Thessalonians 5:16 (New Testament)
"Rejoice evermore."

Proverbs 17:22 (Old Testament)
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

In the New Testament we are told that God is Merciful (Luke 6:36) and we are told the same in The Old Testament:

Deuteronomy 4:31
For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Truth about God was revealed through verses in The Old Testament (The Torah/The Law), but Jesus made everything easier by interpreting it for those who lacked wisdom. Jesus is not teaching about a "different" God because there is only One God and the nature is always the same.

It is not a "different" God, nor is it God's "nature" that is changing, because God is Eternal and Perfect. The only thing that is changing is man's understanding ABOUT God, that God is Merciful.

As Saint Augustine said:

“Scripture teaches nothing but charity and we must not leave an interpretation of scripture until we have found a compassionate interpretation of it.”

a reply to: arpgme
Exactly so.
This is the same point I was making more specifically about the words of Jesus, when I showed how he identified his God with the God found in the scriptures.
The Old Testament comes to a climax and gets explained in the New Testament, just as an Agatha Christie novel comes to a climax and gets explained in the last chapter.

there is no teaching in a book that not only condones control and submission right and wrong is felt in an individual Jesus kicked the asses of usurpers out of a temple once I think if the Jesus was real and had a message I think it would be sinple if you would feel bad about it dont do it, if you would feel guilty you shouldn't do it, if you don't want this to happen to you don't do it

Of course OT verses directly correlate to the words of Jesus in the NT.

That's probably because Jesus was quoting/paraphrasing the OT when he said them. He knew scripture well. It wasn't like he had no knowledge of these OT (not that they called it that in those days) verses, and therefore these sayings attributed to him during his ministry must be the result of divine providence.

I'm not saying they're not the result of such influence, but the words of one prophet being interpreted and taught in similar language by another, later prophet doesn't necessarily mean there's something profound going on.

It simply indicates rhetorical consistency over time. However, consistencies in general between the OT and NT are, unfortunately, overshadowed by the glaring (if few) inconsistencies.

Christianity seems to have cherry picked its agenda with many good things. However its not only the Old Testament that brings these ideas to our attention much of this must go far back into time when man started to live in groups and
protected the weak and vulnerable.

Suddenly these qualities are imagined as brought to us by religion, but the Orphic mysteries is a very good place to look for many of these principles. Pythagarus had an interesting take on the Trinity - he believed that there were the Gods, man and thirdly 'illuminated men' like himself who were born with knowledge or thought it out for themselves and taught, thereby expanding human awareness. Not dissimilar to the holy trinity we have through Christianity if you think about it.

Its frowned upon today because the Church does not want to be seen rooted through paganism as it actually is, but above and better than paganism. Often raised is the blood letting as a sacrifice, common across cultures in the past. Here again we have it in the old Testament and ultimately Christ on the Cross. It seems to be cycles within cycles that repeat but with a different package each time.

a reply to: arpgme

There is a saying: "The New Testament is in the Old Testament, concealed. The Old Testament is in the New Testament, revealed".

originally posted by: arpgme
Some people claim that "Yahweh" is evil or that The Old Testament is evil, but there are many parallels between The Old Testament and The New Testament.

- SURE there are parallels ... where do you think the writers of the New Testament got a boatload of their beliefs from? The Old Testament.

- Guess what? There are parallels between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Buddah. In fact, some are almost word for word. Jesus and Buddha Parallel Teachings ... and .... Jesus and Buddha Similarities And Buddha predates Jesus by hundreds of years. Buddhist teachings were known in the area where Jesus lived.

- There are parts of the Old Testament that ARE evil. To say that mass murder and rape isn't evil is insanity.

- 'God' of the Old Testament many times isn't God. If Jesus is God of the Old Testament .. can you picture Jesus telling Moses to have families slaughter each other ... or to go get sex slave preteen virgin girls as war booty ... ?? Comeon ... really? Obviously those instances weren't God talking but instead were fallible humans and their own notions being mistaken for God speaking.

Jesus quoted some of the stuff in the old testament. Why would anyone think he wouldn't? He took many of the good things he saw and spoke of them. What was done with his words after they were said is the problem. They were twisted by those who came later. You cannot blame all the bad things that happened in Christianity over the years on Jesus or his disciples. Blame it on greed and desire for power. Blame it on idolizing money and material things. The elite are not necessarily greedy, not unless they feel money is more important than the way they treat their fellow man. A person of wealth that supports many families by supplying them with a job is not evil. It is when all they are looking at is the bottom line and how things flow into their pocket that they become evil. Now they could make a lot of money at times and lose some of it keeping workers working when business is slow and that is good. Steady work is always better, it promotes budgeting.

originally posted by: arpgme
Some people claim that "Yahweh" is evil or that The Old Testament is evil, but there are many parallels between The Old Testament and The New Testament.

Matthew 25:39 (New Testament)
"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Proverbs 24:29 (Old Testament)
"Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work."

Matthew 5:44 (New Testament)
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"


Leviticus 19:18 (Old Testament)
"Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD."

Matthew 5:5 (New Testament)
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

Psalm 37:11 (Old Testament)
"But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."

Matthew 5:44 (New Testament)
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

Proverbs 25:21 (Old Testament)
"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:"

Luke 14:11 (New Testament)
"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."


Proverbs 29:23 (Old Testament)
"Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor."

Matthew 26:52 (New Testament)
"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."

Genesis 9:6 (Old Testament)
"Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind."

Colossians 3:8 (New Testament)
"But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."

Psalm 37:8 (Old Testament)
"Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil."

1 Thessalonians 5:16 (New Testament)
"Rejoice evermore."

Proverbs 17:22 (Old Testament)
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

In the New Testament we are told that God is Merciful (Luke 6:36) and we are told the same in The Old Testament:

Deuteronomy 4:31
For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

The Truth about God was revealed through verses in The Old Testament (The Torah/The Law), but Jesus made everything easier by interpreting it for those who lacked wisdom. Jesus is not teaching about a "different" God because there is only One God and the nature is always the same.

It is not a "different" God, nor is it God's "nature" that is changing, because God is Eternal and Perfect. The only thing that is changing is man's understanding ABOUT God, that God is Merciful.

As Saint Augustine said:

“Scripture teaches nothing but charity and we must not leave an interpretation of scripture until we have found a compassionate interpretation of it.”

You are going to get so much hate for this

Love love love, in spite of the hate.
Whatever we see, we must love

great post

a reply to: arpgme

Either there were many gods representing the "one" god, or the god of the OT was a bi-polar schizophrenic.

Certainly whoever put Jesus' words to paper cherry picked from the Old Testament.

Has it occurred to you all that a Testament is exactly that?

Has it occurred to you that there is a solid reason our history repeats itself and that there is a concrete reason for the accuracy the old doctrines have?

Human nature is predictable within specific dynamics, so we have a book or series of connected books of doctrines which all describe how to self-police and manage Human emotional nature.

A testimony is formed from within a finite timeline,we carry forward a testimony of Humanity from an earlier time or times,but is is not a linear long straight one it is instead a spiralling series of circles.

We have a series of stacked Cycles of Humanitarian history and as is predictable we forme consistantly catalyused and realised historys emanating from each of these Cycles.

ALL Religous doctrines stem from Humanitys One True History,which happens to be a Survival Guid for the Species,a PRACTICAL Guide,not a theological action.

originally posted by: Brotherman
there is no teaching in a book that not only condones control and submission right and wrong is felt in an individual Jesus kicked the asses of usurpers out of a temple once I think if the Jesus was real and had a message I think it would be sinple if you would feel bad about it dont do it, if you would feel guilty you shouldn't do it, if you don't want this to happen to you don't do it

Please punctuate your posts, it adds readability and clarity.

I think many judge God by applying human rules. The fact is that if God had wanted to do any particular action, then He would simply do it. He would not require a human agency at all. So, to judge God based upon the actions of others is itself misguided.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say God is the God of 'niceness'. He is the God of love and at times you MUST be stern and authoritarian to those you love (think in the case of a parent disciplining a child who willfully wishes to do things that may cause their ultimate harm).

God is not "politically correct" at all and I also do not know the full details of His motives, so for me to judge Him would be foolish.

I believe God's role in this world is to guide His creation towards an ultimate goal, of which we can barely perceive. Along the way there are triumphs and tragedies and since God allows them, they must be necessary.

God uses everything: pain, pleasure, goodness and evil to work His will. Nothing is wasted. What I can say is that, considering there are consequences of actions and that human evil exists, the broad sweep of history reveals that God is more good than evil.

a reply to: chr0naut

I think many judge God by applying human rules. The fact is that if God had wanted to do any particular action, then He would simply do it. He would not require a human agency at all. So, to judge God based upon the actions of others is itself misguided. - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Of course we judge God by human rules! Supposedly, he gave us those rules!

Human's have created "God" to be human like. The biblical god is an anthropomorphized character that has human characteristics and emotions and places more emphasis on his human projects than on the natural world, the heavens and his angels.

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: chr0naut

I think many judge God by applying human rules. The fact is that if God had wanted to do any particular action, then He would simply do it. He would not require a human agency at all. So, to judge God based upon the actions of others is itself misguided. - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

Of course we judge God by human rules! Supposedly, he gave us those rules!

Human's have created "God" to be human like. The biblical god is an anthropomorphized character that has human characteristics and emotions and places more emphasis on his human projects than on the natural world, the heavens and his angels.

If we have created God, then He could not be the source of those rules, we would have created them. So judging God on rules we created for ourselves would not be a valid thing to do (because the object of our judgement wouldn't exist and the rules would have nothing to do with God, anyway).

Both arguments, which may have validity as an opinion on their own, are, when taken together, inconsistent.

Jesus is the "manna" come down from Heaven in the New Covenant. The "manna" of the Old, food from God. How
much greater, God becomes our food in the New Covenant.

Here are quite a few, not all, verses foreshadowing in the Old of the Eucharistic Sacrifice.


(a). Foreshadowing of the Eucharistic Sacrifice

Gen. 14:18 - this is the first time that the word "priest" is used in Old Testament. Melchizedek is both a priest and a king and he offers a bread and wine sacrifice to God.

Psalm 76:2 - Melchizedek is the king of Salem. Salem is the future Jeru-salem where Jesus, the eternal priest and king, established his new Kingdom and the Eucharistic sacrifice which He offered under the appearance of bread and wine.

Psalm 110:4 - this is the prophecy that Jesus will be the eternal priest and king in the same manner as this mysterious priest Melchizedek. This prophecy requires us to look for an eternal bread and wine sacrifice in the future. This prophecy is fulfilled only by the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Catholic Church.

Malachi 1:11 - this is a prophecy of a pure offering that will be offered in every place from the rising of the sun to its setting. Thus, there will be only one sacrifice, but it will be offered in many places around the world. This prophecy is fulfilled only by the Catholic Church in the Masses around the world, where the sacrifice of Christ which transcends time and space is offered for our salvation. If this prophecy is not fulfilled by the Catholic Church, then Malachi is a false prophet.

Exodus 12:14,17,24; cf. 24:8 - we see that the feast of the paschal lamb is a perpetual ordinance. It lasts forever. But it had not yet been fulfilled.

Exodus 29:38-39 – God commands the Israelites to “offer” (poieseis) the lambs upon the altar. The word “offer” is the same verb Jesus would use to institute the Eucharistic offering of Himself.

Lev. 19:22 – the priests of the old covenant would make atonement for sins with the guilt offering of an animal which had to be consumed. Jesus, the High Priest of the New Covenant, has atoned for our sins by His one sacrifice, and He also must be consumed.

Jer. 33:18 - God promises that His earthly kingdom will consist of a sacrificial priesthood forever. This promise has been fulfilled by the priests of the Catholic Church, who sacramentally offer the sacrifice of Christ from the rising of the sun to its setting in every Mass around the world.

Zech. 9:15-16 - this is a prophecy that the sons of Zion, which is the site of the establishment of the Eucharistic sacrifice, shall drink blood like wine and be saved. This prophecy is fulfilled only by the priests of the Catholic Church.

2 Chron. 26:18 - only validly consecrated priests will be able to offer the sacrifice to God. The Catholic priests of the New Covenant trace their sacrificial priesthood to Christ.


(b). Foreshadowing of the Requirement to Consume the Sacrifice

Gen. 22:9-13 - God saved Abraham's first-born son on Mount Moriah with a substitute sacrifice which had to be consumed. This foreshadowed the real sacrifice of Israel's true first-born son (Jesus) who must be consumed.

Exodus 12:5 - the paschal lamb that was sacrificed and eaten had to be without blemish. Luke 23:4,14; John 18:38 - Jesus is the true paschal Lamb without blemish.

Exodus 12:7,22-23 - the blood of the lamb had to be sprinkled on the two door posts. This paschal sacrifice foreshadows the true Lamb of sacrifice and the two posts of His cross on which His blood was sprinkled.

Exodus 12:8,11 - the paschal lamb had to be eaten by the faithful in order for God to "pass over" the house and spare their first-born sons. Jesus, the true paschal Lamb, must also be eaten by the faithful in order for God to forgive their sins.

Exodus 12:43-45; Ezek. 44:9 - no one outside the "family of God" shall eat the lamb. Non-Catholics should not partake of the Eucharist until they are in full communion with the Church.

Exodus 12:49 - no uncircumcised person shall eat of the lamb. Baptism is the new circumcision for Catholics, and thus one must be baptized in order to partake of the Lamb.

Exodus 12:47; Num. 9:12 - the paschal lamb's bones could not be broken. John 19:33 - none of Jesus' bones were broken.

Exodus 16:4-36; Neh 9:15 - God gave His people bread from heaven to sustain them on their journey to the promised land. This foreshadows the true bread from heaven which God gives to us at Mass to sustain us on our journey to heaven.

Exodus 24:9-11 - the Mosaic covenant was consummated with a meal in the presence of God. The New and eternal Covenant is consummated with the Eucharistic meal - the body and blood of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine.

Exodus 29:33 – God commands that they shall eat those things with which atonement was made. Jesus is the true Lamb of atonement and must now be eaten.

Lev. 7:15 - the Aaronic sacrifices absolutely had to be eaten in order to restore communion with God. These sacrifices all foreshadow the one eternal sacrifice which must also be eaten to restore communion with God. This is the Eucharist (from the Greek word "eukaristia" which means "thanksgiving").

Lev. 17:11,14 - in the Old Testament, we see that the life of the flesh is the blood which could never be drunk. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ's blood is the source of new life, and now must be drunk.

Gen. 9:4-5; Deut.12:16,23-24 - in these verses we see other prohibitions on drinking blood, yet Jesus commands us to drink His blood because it is the true source of life.

2 Kings 4:43 - this passage foreshadows the multiplication of the loaves and the true bread from heaven which is Jesus Christ.

2 Chron. 30:15-17; 35:1,6,11,13; Ezra 6:20-21; Ezek. 6:20-21- the lamb was killed, roasted and eaten to atone for sin and restore communion with God. This foreshadows the true Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sin and who must now be consumed for our salvation.

Neh. 9:15 – God gave the Israelites bread from heaven for their hunger, which foreshadows the true heavenly bread who is Jesus.

Psalm 78:24-25; 105:40 - the raining of manna and the bread from angels foreshadows the true bread from heaven, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53:7 - this verse foreshadows the true Lamb of God who was slain for our sins and who must be consumed.

Wis. 16:20 - this foreshadows the true bread from heaven which will be suited to every taste. All will be welcome to partake of this heavenly bread, which is Jesus Christ.

Sir. 24:21 - God says those who eat Him will hunger for more, and those who drink Him will thirst for more.

Ezek. 2:8-10; 3:1-3 - God orders Ezekiel to open his mouth and eat the scroll which is the Word of God. This foreshadows the true Word of God, Jesus Christ, who must be consumed.

Zech. 12:10 - this foreshadows the true first-born Son who was pierced for the sins of the inhabitants of the new Jerusalem. ...

www.scripturecatholic.com...-Ib

a reply to: chr0naut

Right! We invented the rules that we pretend that "God" gave us, and use them to judge the God that we created!

a reply to: chr0naut

Please do not correct people on their punctution or writing skills,it is a suppressionist action which denotes that your or the STATUS QUOS reading comfort level is more important than what another PERSON has to say.

Your comfort zone is not important.

What the poster has to say is important.

Whether you read what the poster writes is not important to anyone but you.

Starting a communication by initiating a Greater Power dynamic and trying to get the upper hand is very religous like,par for the course for people taught to manipulate things to get what they want truth not being the Primary driver but protocal instead.

What you are doing to everyone with this Religous Holier than thou tactic of trying to set the conversational tone by instigating the greater Power dynamic,really upsets me,moreso than the spelling,or punctuation errors should upset you according to your status quo.


In all fairness you may not even know you are doing it,but now you do.

Immediatly allying yourself with a percieved ideological Geater Power while you disenfranchise another person at the same time by proxy is called manipulation.

You cannot objectify the ideological status Quo,so that you may defend it and in the process engage it as an ally.

The unwritten,agreed upon STATUS QUO says using spell-check is the right thing to do.

The Status Quo is a cumulatively agreed upon reality that uses numbers and peer pressure dynamics to attempt to "objectify" itself.

Just because a majority SAY and AGREE that something is a reality does not make it so.

Religons and Status Quos are identical,they are cumulatively agreed upon ideologys,they are not concrete and carry no tangible form which can justifiably be defended or indoctrinated.

Religons try to objectify themselves so that their members can endorse the idea of defending them as if they were an object or a reality or something tangible.This is what you did with the Status Quo at the beginning of your post,you tried to use it as a weapon a dynamic chess piece in a simple communication with someone else,you cheated,you tried to get an adge.

You tried to make the Staus Quo a concrete reality,when it isnt,reality says that as long as we can reasonably understand someones post thenn it is good enough for us all,if YOU have a problem keeping up with the MAJORITY of us who CAN understand posts with inaccurate punctuation and spelling,then pleae ASK FOR HELP,I am sure most people will try to help you out,but please dont try to put the impacts of your own shortcomings upon some innocent poster trying to share their ideas with us all.

This is a perfect example of how religons manipulate by using high numbers of members to attempt to OBJECTIFY an idea which CAN NEVER be objectified,and they do this because as soon as you can find a way to objectify something then you can justifiably ask your members to fight defend and die for it.

It may seem like a harmless dynamicI am outlining here but it is the deadliest dynamic known to Humanity and has killed more people than anything else Humanity has done.

You cannot artificially objectify an idea in order to enable artificially catalysed defense of it by calling upon the support of the Status Quo membership who are nearby,by immediatly pointing out an infraction upon the status Quo in the punctuation mistakes and requesting remediation with the support of the status quo now engaged and on your side you effectively BULLIED from your first comment forward.

Sorry for pointing this dynamic out and it is nothiig personal to you it is just that this is the Primary tactic religons and other manipulative structures most commonly use to control the masses,they think it is funny to use us against ourselves,to manipulate us using things like peer pressure and status quo ideologys.

And I am not trying to make a point either,I really prefer to read past punctuation and spelling errors putting primary focus and value on the person and their ideas,looking for the positive,not immediatly looking for the negative and then trying to manufacture sympathetic dynamics that allow me to defend that negative beginning.

And if a negative comment over a punctuation or spelling error makes someone not post again,i would rather have the person harping on the Staus Quo perspective not post again and have the unknown perspective heard.

originally posted by: one4all
a reply to: chr0naut

Please do not correct people on their punctution or writing skills,it is a suppressionist action which denotes that your or the STATUS QUOS reading comfort level is more important than what another PERSON has to say.

Your comfort zone is not important.

What the poster has to say is important.

... snip ...

And if a negative comment over a punctuation or spelling error makes someone not post again,i would rather have the person harping on the Staus Quo perspective not post again and have the unknown perspective heard.

I apologize for any upset over my request for punctuation. It was not intended as a slight. I believe that Brotherman's post content was worthwhile enough to reread and respond to; and that he was capable of expressing it better.

ATS is a public forum, where the opinions of both posters and responders are vital to communication. My opinion was just that.

Your assumption of my arrogance was most probably due to either my poor written expression or because you read into my post, stuff I never intended. If the former was the case, then I'm sorry. I'm doing the best I can.

a reply to: chr0naut

I apologise if I came across as accusing you of being arrogant, I was simply trying to point out a dynamic habit of objectifying ideologies to support our perspectives many of us have adopted in our everyday lives.

Your written and other expressions are excellent.

My intention was to illustrate impact intentional or non-intentional, of specific conversational dynamic patterns most of us utilise but overlook in our daily lives.

A diety of god concept is created and objectified to represent our human emotons,in objectifying our emotions we give ourselves a sense of control.

If we want to control human emotions enmasse the best way to do it is to objectify them within a diety or god concept.

The diety of god concept is representative of Hunmanitys struggle to understand self-awareness and our emotional processes.To self-police and to control and bring into syncronicity many individual emotionally catalysed realitys.

God is Man,it is a parable.

Old Testament - Scare them into doubting you
New testament - Show them love

The same tactic employed on POW's.

I certainly believe in God, but the Bible is not a part of that belief for me. The New Testament following the life of Jesus, who I believe existed, but I have no opinion of the "son of God" part. The Old testament, however, is almost entirely b.s. There is some history in there, but the events surrounding them are completely made up.

I don't think God has a book, needs a book, or endorses a book. In fact, I'm not even sure God pays any attention to Earth or it's inhabitants.