Shaped by the Word, Anniversary Edition: The Power of Scripture in Spiritual Formation

by M. Robert Mullholland Jr.

In the foreword to the first edition of Shaped by the Word, Bishop Rueben Job wrote, "One of the great strengths of this volume is that it grows out of the spiritual pilgrimage of a capable and committed biblical scholar. It was my privilege to hear these lectures when they were presented to the first Academy for Spiritual Formation in 1983. They became for those who heard them a window to God."
Nearly forty years later, Shaped by the Word continues to provide this "window to God" to readers across the world.
In a success-oriented world, it is easy for Bible study to become another task to perform rather than a transformational experience. Those who hunger for a deep relationship with God often struggle with barriers that keep us from being able to meditate and listen to God with the deepest core of our being. Shaped by the Word seeks to overcome these barriers through a formational reading of the Bible. In this timeless book, Robert Mulholland shows readers how to listen for God's voice in our study of the Word and allow God to lead our reading and understanding so that we may truly be transformed.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2023

Reviews

[Brandon Barrier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would give a 3.5 but I will round up.

This book was a good read. Mullholland lays out some very beneficial, simple principles for approaching scripture. He then goes on to overly complicate these principles for most of the book. The main one is that we are to approach scripture in humility allowing the Word to transform us. The information aspect of reading is important to lay a foundation for us but it is not the end all be all. The last chapter Mullholland lays out some very practical ways to apply these approach to our reading.

Another small thing in the book that stuck out was the discussion on Spiritual Disciplines. He talks about how Spiritual Disciplines should be something that are not convenient for us. He also says that we need to be okay that God may not always use what we offer as a discipline. "If God chooses not to us what you offer, you praise God and continue to offer it for God's nonuse. You are not making demands on God. You are yielding yourself to allow God to do what God desires." Spiritual disciplines are things that we offer to God, that are inconvenient for us on a regular basis and let God do with it as He pleases.

I did appreciate this book because I am naturally a read to understand and try to conquer the text. Mullholland challenged me a lot to humble myself and let God's word conquer me.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I learned a whole two things from this book. The rest I kind of already knew/had an idea of. Maybe I’m just not a smart seminary student but the first half was kind of hard to understand and the sentences were very wordy. The best part of reading this was that I borrowed my friend Paige’s copy and I got to read her annotations.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better books I've read when it comes to reading Scripture for spiritual growth. Mulholland goes into detail about changing our focal and experiential perceptions in our approach to Scriptural reading in order to be formed by the text, instead of forming the text to suit our purpose.