In Shaped by the Word, Robert Mulholland explores the role of scripture in spiritual formation. According to the author, the way in which we approach scripture determines how it will affect us. He examines obsta cles often encountered in spiritual reading and intro-duces a new approach to reading the scripture.

Dr. Mulholland contrasts reading in order to be in-formed and reading in order to be spiritually formed. Strong cultural and experiential emphasis on informa tion often prevents formation. In the author's ap-proach, the reader is no longer "in charge" of the text but is released to God's initiative, allowing the scrip-ture to form the spiritual life from within.

In his foreword to Shaped by the Word, Bishop Rueben Job comments.