So successful a watch and ward had been established over the young lady by this judicious parent, that she had grown up highly ornamental, but perfectly helpless and useless.
This is an important distinction to make, because while true faith can be a powerful weapon against a demon, it's going to be completely useless against Pinhead or his Cenobite cohorts.
Now for all of you thinking about the massive Sahara Desert and wondering what the problem is, here's the catch: desert sand that covers roughly a third of the earth's land surface is completely useless.
The lecture system to classes of hundreds, which was very much that of the twelfth century, suited Adams not at all. Barred from philosophy and bored by facts, he wanted to teach his students something not wholly useless.