History of Christianity. Lecture 13 of 30. Protest: Retreat to the Desert. As the Church grew in power and prestige, some of the faithful saw this development as a sign of decay and decadence. In protest they abandoned the worldly Church and wandered out into the deserts to praise God and save their souls on their own. And so Christian monasticism was born. It was now the task of the Church to tame this protest movement.