The prevailing view is that humans are becoming more progressive, that practices, laws and relationships are now in a better state than at any time in the past. Modern medicine means we don't have to die from an infected cut, people aren't imprisoned for their beliefs or orientations, torture is not an aspect of capital punishment as once it was, psychiatry can explain a lot that was once just plain superstition, science can help us understand and even harness the natural world. You get the picture.

Sure, there is climate change and we still have nuclear weapons, but we will get around to doing something about that someday, as well as evening out the inequalities that we still see on planet earth. Its a rosy view all up, and certainly, partly true.

But the human condition remains the same, driven as it is by unseen impulses and desires. It would only take the collapse of the economic order, globalisation and whatever succeeds it, for old tribalism's to emerge again, for democracy to be swamped by the demand for strong, decisive leadership, for all the gains that progressives talk about to be swept away in a rush to meet the needs of survival.

I don't mean to be dystopian, but this awful prospect is not a fantasy novel. It is within the realm of the possible. As a Christian, however, I have faith that God knows the end from the beginning and is the best one to make sense of the human situation, with the best remedy. That doesn't mean the dystopia can't happen, and we all pray that it doesn't, but that we can only see the fragments, a few pieces, if you like, of the 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Those who can see more are often called prophets. The one who sees it all is God.