And so the debate raged on. Was it right for the state to kill Gary Gilmore? Was he beyond redemption? What was the most humane way of executing condemned criminals? Some thought an injection with a lethal drug would be the most painless. Others maintained that life would end more quickly by hanging.

But in all this discussion, in all this passionate debate over the death penalty, there was one option no one considered. No one suggested that Gilmore be tortured to death. The man had a long criminal record. He had cruelly ended two lives. He seemed hopelessly pathological. But still, no one even among the most vocal supporters of the death penalty proposed that Gilmore pay for his crimes with physical agony. No one, for example, insisted he slowly burn to death.

But many sincere Christians assume that our Heavenly Father will do worse than that. The wicked, they say, must be tortured in order to pay for their sins. And what’s more, they picture God’s execution grounds as a place of endless torment, a place where the agonies of the damned continue forever.

Just what does happen to the wicked in hell? And how does their final fate fit in with God’s love and justice? Let’s look for biblical answers in this Discover guide.