A young street preacher reacted to a protester stealing and eating his beloved personal Bible — during a demonstration against Daily Wire host Matt Walsh — by emphasizing the forgiveness found in Christ.
On Monday evening, the Young America’s Foundation chapter at the University of Wisconsin hosted a screening of Walsh’s blockbuster documentary “What Is A Woman?” as well as a question-and-answer session about radical gender theory. Footage of a protester shredding and consuming pages of a Bible quickly began circulating online.
The Daily Wire has learned that the Bible belonged to Nick Proell, a local teenager who joined peers from his church to preach and start conversations about God’s design for human sexuality among left-wing demonstrators gathered outside of the event. In an interview with The Daily Wire, Proell explained that the copy of the Scriptures was a Legacy Standard Bible purchased for roughly $100 at the end of last year.
“It was my personal study Bible that I used every single day,” Proell explained. “At church, at Bible study, to preach, you name it.”
Proell had briefly set his Bible down in order to engage a crowd of protesters in conversation. When he later saw pages blowing in the wind, he realized that his Bible was missing. “Right away, I connected the dots,” he recounted. “They also stole our camera and equipment … batteries, chargers, and microphones, that cost more than $1,000.”
When he later saw the footage of a red-headed individual eating pages of the Bible, Proell quipped that he was glad to see him “digesting God’s word.” Proell had decided to street preach at the event because “as a Christian I’m called to love God and love my neighbor as myself.”
“If I saw someone walking off a cliff, how much would I have to hate them to see them walking off a cliff and not tell them there’s a way out? These people are just like me before Jesus, sinners who love their sin and hate God,” he said. “But praise God, he gives sinners the greatest joy, peace, and pleasure when he saves their soul from destruction. And now, because God saved me, I have so much joy. I want to go and tell everyone about this life-changing good news, that you can be reconciled to your Creator by repenting of your sins and trusting in Jesus, who bore the punishment we deserve for our sins in our place by dying on a cross. It’s the most loving message I could tell anyone.”
Proell explained that radical gender ideology and child mutilation are fundamentally opposed to the biblical worldview since “God made man and woman in his image,” each with distinct roles and characteristics, but “nevertheless equal” in value.
“God uniquely chooses who we are and what our purpose is. He decides if we’re a man or a woman, not us,” he continued. “Men weren’t designed to chop off their penises and call themselves women. It’s a foolish thing to try and play God.”
Proell recalled that Jesus and the apostles were often despised and rejected for their message: “This is exactly what happened to us last night, and it is something we as Christians should expect to happen if we’re living out the Christian life.” However, Proell expressed confidence that some degree of good came from the destruction of his copy of the Scriptures.
“The Bible says, ‘God does all things for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.’ I hope that by them stealing the Bible and people seeing the footage, the narrative changes,” he said. “I hope that people realize it’s not just a right-versus-left thing, it’s an attack on truth and the standard of truth, God himself. That the question ‘What is a Woman?’ is about more than just gender or sex. It’s about truth. It’s about God.”
“While I lost $100 and a Bible that meant so much to me, it’s just a material object. Unlike in many other countries, I can always buy another one. And I know that God’s word will go out and, as the Lord says, ‘It will not return void.’ Later in the evening, I saw many students walking around with pages in their hands. Whether reading or mocking, I know that seeds were planted. And I pray that God waters those seeds, saving souls and changing lives for the better.”
