Bernard Martin asked, "Was the revelation to the biblical Abraham of the divine command to sacrifice his son, we may ask (following Kierkegaard), demonic possession or ecstasy? And even if it be allowed that “the ethical and logical norms of ordinary reason” constitute clear-cut and easily applicable criteria, how does ecstatic reason in revelation basically differ from ordinary reason, aside from an emotional “shaking,” seeing that it merely affirms and elevates the principles of ordinary reason? However, for Kierkegaard the "emotional shaking" is an external event, which could signify nothing or everything.