It’s not often that Christian speculation on the reality and nature of Hell merits a spot in the secular press, but Rob Bell, pastor of the extremely successful Mars Hill church, has managed just that. He seems to be shocked by all the attention his ruminations are receiving.

Here is the CBC’s coverage. Rob Bell seems increasingly more interested in building a temporal kingdom of heaven than in occupying an eternal one, a malaise that is more commonly associated with liberal mainline churches.

Evangelical megachurch pastor Rob Bell told a Nashville audience he did not anticipate the firestorm he would stir with his book that questions the traditional Christian belief that a select number of believers will spend eternity in heaven while everyone else is tormented in hell.

Bell said that he not only didn’t set out to be controversial, he had no idea his bestseller, Love Wins, would bring condemnation from people like Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler, who claims Bell is leading people astray.

“The last couple of weeks have been the most painful in my life,” the Michigan pastor told a crowd of about 1,600 at Belmont University in Nashville Tuesday after an audience member asked him about the criticism he has faced.

“It has taken me to a place of profound brokenness,” he said…..

He said that what he called “evacuation theology,” or the idea that “Jesus is your ticket to somewhere else,” is dangerous because it can cause people to miss Christ’s message about how to live in such harmony with God that you are creating a heaven on Earth.

“Jesus taught his disciples to pray, not ‘God, beam me up,’ but ‘Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven,”‘ Bell said.

He says hell is something freely chosen that already exists on Earth.

Mars Hill has attempted damage control by publishing a Love Wins FAQ, but seeing Rob Bell giving evasive answers to direct questions in this interview hasn’t helped: