Luther and the World Turned Upside Down: Prophecy, Revolution, and the End of Time -- Exhibit Essay and Checklist

Abstract

In this year that we remember the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, we encounter an individual who in some ways is just as polarizing and puzzling today as he was during his lifetime. Who was Martin Luther? Was he a progressive who brought needed changes to a church riddled with corruption and theologically adrift, or was he at the end of the day a social conservative who sided with the establishment and backed away from the revolutionary implications of his teaching? Luther and the World Turned Upside Down. Prophecy, Revolution, and the End of Time is an exhibit constructed to help us think through the often contradictory impulses that ran through this individual who more than anyone else transformed the religious landscape of medieval Europe. It offers clues and insights into Luther’s world and helps us think through these complicated questions.