A crowd of angry students ringed Matt Bourgult, an outdoor preacher from Florida, as he preached on the Oval Nov. 20.

Bourgult screamed hellfire and students with their Bibles open screamed right back.

“The gentleman is nothing but a hypocrite,” said Adie Hoyt, senior mass communication major. “He is judging people, when a Christian is not to judge. It is not our place to judge. My father is a minister of the Baptist church. I grew up learning this stuff. I grew up in the church. And it’s men like him that causes Christians to be looked at as these judging horrible people who just want to hide in their churches instead of go out and truly believe.

“He is putting stumbling blocks in front of every student here. They see his kind and they turn away. He’s doing more for the devil than any smoker or any man of liquor could ever do. He totally destroys the Christian faith. Destroys it. And as long as people like him are out there more people are going to turn away from God.”

Hoyt was not the only student in the crowd who had this opinion of Bourgult. Almost every person in the crowd was a Christian who claimed their faith was under attack.

“God is love,” said Johonna Manning, sophomore elementary education major. “This is not love. He’s preaching hate, and the Bible doesn’t preach hate.”

“This guy is crazy,” said Kaitlin Tinney, freshman biology major. “He’s telling us that we’re wrong and our pastors are wrong and everything we believe is wrong.

“I don’t think so. He just told somebody that she wasn’t Christian and she was wrong. It’s the wrong way to do this. You’re not supposed to tell people that they are wrong for what they believe.”

Other students said that while Bourgult’s message was on track, his method of preaching was too confrontational.

“His sign, what’s on there is true,” said Todd Seacewater, junior political science major. “But as a youth minister, he’s making my job harder. He has a list of sins that if you do you’re going to go to hell. That’s all true.

“We all deserve to go to hell. But if he’d care to mention grace, and the fact that you don’t go to heaven by not sinning, you go to heaven by God’s grace, then he’d probably be a lot better received.”

A few students wondered how Bourgult was allowed on campus in the first place.

“It really is absolutely ridiculous that the school allowed this man to come out here, knowing the controversy it would cause, considering the other things they won’t allow,” said Ryan Goodwin, junior computer forensics major. “They let somebody like this come out here and protect him with our own security staff when there are certain fund raisers that they won’t allow us to do because it might offend students.

“This is more offensive to everyone, whenever a man calls himself a saint, comes on campus and just insults everyone who walks by.”

While the crowd of angry Christians fought their battle with Bourgult, there were some students who sat back and watched the show.

“This guy is full of crap, and it’s really funny to watch him,” said Amanda Tinney, freshman biology major. “He’s cracking me up.”

“This is too funny for words,” said Francie North, junior English major. “But on the other hand, I’m glad to see it because this proves that you’ve got to love America. It’s just humorous.”

“I think it’s a bunch of bull,” said Jamie Doughty, junior biology major, as she took pictures of Bourgult with her disposable camera. “I think it’s ridiculous that he’s even here. I am upset and appalled. I’m being ironic, by the way.”