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Ian McEwan has published a new novel in which he imagines Britain flooded by a tsunami, and existing only as a series of small islands. Interviewed in connection with the book he said that deeper than any fears about climate change or war he believed something even more fundamental has happened in our time. He defined this as the ‘collapse of a belief in the future or…. the fading of a belief in progress’ He regards this loss of hope in a better future as catastrophic. The first question to ask is whether he is right that a belief in progress has now faded? After all, young people can often still seem full of hope for their lives. But for those of us who are older, something has indeed changed. During the 1960’s people really thought the world could be changed for the better. During the 1980’s and 90’s people believed the world was becoming more and more prosperous. Apartheid ended, the Berlin wall came down, The Good Friday agreement was signed, democracy seemed ascendent, and a rules based international order was widely accepted. Now, alas, it all feels so different. So yes, I think Ian McEwan is right, something fundamental has changed in our time. We do not think progress is inevitable - that the future will necessarily be better than the past. My second question is: what difference should this make to how we actually live our lives? My short answer is that this should not divert us from what really matters- because the Chrisian church has never believed in the inevitability of progress. Taking a realistic view of human nature it has always known that things can get worse as well as better, and that communities set up on the most idealistic ideas can get wrecked on the rock of human egos - this of course applies as much to religious communities as to secular societies. The Victorians had a powerful belief in progress fuelled by the newly discovered theory of evolution. But this was quickly shattered by the first world war and the horrors of Soviet Communism. Of course there has been, and will continue to be, wonderful scientific and medical advances, but the challenge of human beings to live together in harmony so that the well being of everyone is fostered is the same now as it ever was and will continue to be so. It is not a belief in progress that matters but the moral duty to alleviate suffering and promote the good of all however the future looks - and if the future looks sombre as it does to many now, that moral duty becomes even more pressing.