Vision and Voice: Revelatory Experience in the Formation of Christian Identity by Mark D. Batluck

Abstract

Reviewed by: Vision and Voice: Revelatory Experience in the Formation of Christian Identity by Mark D. Batluck Olegs Andrejevs mark d. batluck, Vision and Voice: Revelatory Experience in the Formation of Christian Identity (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2021). Pp. x + 176. £60/$85. In this insightful monograph, Mark Batluck analyzes the narrative role of the accounts of revelatory experiences in the four canonical Gospels. His objective is to encourage "readers to enter into the experience of early believers" (p. 143). In B.'s view, revelatory events in the Gospels "portray a dialectical process or exchange" whereby Jesus's followers "are prompted to reconcile or 'negotiate' their experience of Jesus with their tradition" (p. 2). The book is divided into eight chapters. In the Introduction, B. discusses the key terms and his methodology. Revelatory events are defined as "Gospel experiences that a character deems 'special' as a communication from heaven" (p. 3). The author explains his intention to analyze each of the Gospels separately. The reader may also wish to consult here the Conclusion, where B. notes that his work "is strictly a narrative project" and that he is not "drawing historical conclusions" (p. 141). Back in the Introduction, n. 21 (p. 7) states that the author assumes the priority of Mark but does not differentiate further between the Synoptic theories based on Marcan priority. The limiting of the discussion to narrative criticism enables the investigation to proceed in the canonical order. In the second chapter, B. provides a Forschungsbericht of religious experience in NT research from 1888 to the present. He identifies three streams of research: (1) phenomenological approaches; (2) religious experience as an effect of the Holy Spirit; and (3) religious experience as a historical factor in the formation of the earliest Christian communities. Each of these approaches receives its own subsection. B. concludes by highlighting how these streams of research converge in his book, specifically in the application of social memory theory (p. 22). Chapters 3–6 are each dedicated to one of the canonical Gospels. The frequently overlapping revelatory accounts help structure the analysis. The chapters mostly focus on the same events: infancy stories (Matthew and Luke); baptism and temptation (Matthew, [End Page 350] Mark, Luke); transfiguration (Matthew, Mark, Luke); crucifixion and resurrection (Matthew, Mark, Luke). The chapter on John's Gospel then discusses the Baptist's report of the Spirit's descent (John 1:32–34); the voice from heaven that confuses witnesses (John 12:27–40); and the Spirit of peace commissioning the disciples at the resurrection (John 20:1–21:25). Each of these events forms a subsection in its chapter. Each chapter receives its own separate conclusion. Because of the focus on the aforementioned Gospel accounts, this book will be of interest to anyone doing research on these pericopes. B. does not hesitate to state his opinion on a number of perennial topics and to engage the existing views. One may especially mention here the engagement with L. A. Huizenga's hypothesis of an Isaac typology in Matthew (The New Isaac: Tradition and Intertextuality in the Gospel of Matthew [NovTSup 131; Leiden: Brill, 2012]) (pp. 40–45) and the discussion of the various elements of the Marcan crucifixion scene (pp. 74–80). In chap. 7, B. seeks to synthesize the separate Gospel accounts, summarizing the divergence and convergence among the four Gospels. He highlights nine ways in which he finds the Synoptic Gospels and John converging in their depiction of revelatory events (pp. 133–36). Finally, in chap. 8 (Conclusion), B. offers several sets of implications of his work: (1) for research on social identity and worship in early Christianity; (2) for research on orality and textuality; (3) for narrative interpretations of devotion to Jesus in the Gospels; and (4) for the relationship between early Christian revelatory experience and the crucifixion and resurrection. I list here some of the notable implications. According to B., the revelatory experiences analyzed here in written form "become paradigmatic for the way first century Christian readers understand Jesus" (p. 138). "From a literary-critical standpoint," the Gospels "do not appear to be unfinished 'notes'" (p. 140, in disagreement with Matthew Larsen—especially with regard to Mark's Gospel). "[T...