Sixteen hundred years ago the church was adopted by Rome. Millions of pagans flooded its membership; and they brought with them their pagan culture, tradition, and faith. It took that "successful church" a thousand years to recover from that brilliant success. Something like that has happened in our day here in America. In this century, the church and religion have been adopted by society, politicians, entertainers, and popular persons. All of a sudden "Jesus" and the "gospel" have become quite popular. Millions have joined to swell church membership to an all-time high. Results: a church today that bears no resemblance to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Religion" has become man's chief defense against the true gospel.