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Thus the legend runs of a man who, entering an abbey, found many devils in the cloister but in the market-place found but one, alone on a high pillar. This filled him with wonder. But it was told him that in the cloister all is arranged to help souls to God, so many devils are required there to induce monks to be led astray, but in the market-place, since each man is a devil to himself, only one other demon suffices.

Humbert's critique may or may not apply to modern megachurches, but history offers other lessons to ponder as well. Naysayers who claim that comprehensive Christian enclaves represent isolationist "cocooning" should note that cathedrals, stone walls and all, helped to integrate society and shape emerging urban culture. Megachurch enthusiasts, on the other hand, shouldn't ignore the fact that cathedrals today attract more tourists than worshipers.

Elesha Coffman is managing editor of Christian History magazine.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

More Christian History, including a list of events that occurred this week in the church's past, is available at ChristianHistory.net. Subscriptions to the quarterly print magazine are also available.

Related articles include:

Oh come all ye faithful—The Scotsman

Christian-style capitalism grows in the South—Christian Science Monitor

First Assembly plans to revamp Concord Parkade shopping center—The Cabarrus Business Magazine

History of Exeter Cathedral in Devon, part 2—Britannia.com

Humbert of Romans (and other sources)

See Christians History's "Medieval U | How accounting, Aristotle, and the first teachers' unions transformed higher education" from issue 73: Thomas Aquinas.

Purchase Christian History issue 49, "Everyday Faith in the Middle Ages" online.

Christian History Corner appears every Friday at ChristianityToday.com. Previous editions include:

2002 Is Not 1789 | Before trying to figure out what the framers of the Constitution really thought, remember that they were from a wildly different country—the past (July 5, 2002)

Between Extremes | Church leaders didn't like Pelagius's ideas about free will, but they've never been able to avoid them completely (June 28, 2002)

Severe Success | Bernard of Clairvaux was a tough act to follow—yet thousands of Christians walked his path. (June 21, 2002)

Coming to America | Commentators who call proposed INS policies an unprecedented invasion of privacy forget what foreign visitors were asked 80 years ago, and why. (June 14, 2002)

When Pacifists Attack | 350 years ago, George Fox launched a powerful, peace-loving movement with an assault on established Christianity. (June 7, 2002)

Captive Christians | Views from inside Roman, English, and German prisons give a sense of how kidnapped missionaries might feel. (May 31, 2002)

Of Church, State, and Taxes | If you want to know what the establishment of religion looks like, check out church history, not American tax law. (May 17, 2002)

Mom, We Salute You | Mother's Day and Memorial Day were meant to go together. (May 10, 2002)

Christ, Culture, and History | Is the "main character" in the church's story God, transforming faith, or an inspired yet wayward community? (May 3, 2002)

Moving Targets | Evangelizing on-the-go Americans only seems harder than it used to be. (Apr. 26, 2002)

The Profligate Provocateur | In the twelfth century, an intellectual challenge to church authority proved much more dangerous than a sex scandal. (Apr. 19, 2002)

'Hier Stehe Ich!' | When Martin Luther stood up for his ideas at the Diet of Worms, did he really say, "Here I stand"? (April 12, 2002)

National Makeover | Washington's struggle to sell the American image overseas illustrates how sharply today's reality differs from seventeenth-century ideals. (Apr. 5, 2002)

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July (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46