Under Constantine, Christianity was both recognized and honored by the state. This blurred the line between the church and the world. The Christian faith was no longer a minority religion. Instead, it was protected by emperors. As a consequence, church membership grew rapidly—as large numbers of people with questionable conversions began to join. Such people brought into the church a wide variety of pagan ideas. In the words of Will Durant: “While Christianity converted the world; the world converted Christianity, and displayed the natural paganism of mankind.”