Progressivism is a characteristic of American politics, not just a political movement that flourished in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Understood in this way, progressivism is the most powerful force in American politics. In the American founding, it was commonly held that progress or improvement would occur in morals, politics, and technology as man’s understanding of nature improved and became more widely influential. This view merged with the Christian understanding of time as moving toward the culmination of the second coming and the belief that revelation and science were compatible because God was the author of both the Bible and nature. By the late 20th century, having rejected both nature and much of traditional religion and its conception of God, progressivism had decayed into a groundless commitment to improvement and reform. In that form, it remains the most powerful force in American politics.