In Shaped by the Word, by Robert Mulholland Jr., one finds a way to read scripture in order to provide a deeper understanding of God and allow His Word to shape one’s spiritual life. In the Introduction, in chapter 1, the reader is introduced to the idea that there is a movement in the church that seeks to become deeper and stricter in spiritual formation. He claims there are many books written for this purpose, and his intending purpose for this book is for God to use however he may want in the reader’s spiritual life. Mulholland provides the reader with a prayer to pray in preparation of reading this book and states there may be points where God is knocking and calling the reader’s attention to something new.
In chapter 2, Mulholland explains how the reader is a “victim” because of one’s education and allows for the reader to control what is read, rather than letting the text control the reader. The reader is told to listen with the heart and spirit rather than with the mind, thinking and rationalizing the text. His argument for this is that God may be meeting the reader in this place where the mind thinks and the heart reads, and in saying we believe something isn’t for one’s self, there may be a point missed by God who is trying to instill this new idea.
In the last chapter of the first section, Mulholland explains the meaning of spiritual formation, more explicitly, Christian spiritual formation. This definition is called “to be the image of Christ for the sake of other,” and in this definition are four elements, in order, he calls: Process, Being conformed, The Image of Christ, and For Others. In the first element, Mulholland explains that one needs to think differently from the cultural surroundings. One being cultured for instant gratification, controlling and manipulative lives are some aspects that Mulholland says have made one unable to have