Was this Jehovah's Witness right about hell?
The short answer
No. Scripture describes hell as fire to convey the intensity of its suffering — it is worse than fire. God doesn't send people there; they choose it by turning from him. Christ's agonizing death shows how grave sin is before God's infinite goodness, so the punishment fits the crime.
Worse than fire
Scripture calls hell fire to convey the intensity of its suffering; in fact it is worse. Hell is eternity without God, and only those who know how good heaven is can grasp how evil its absence is.
Our choice
God doesn't send people to hell; they choose it by turning their backs on him. When we sin mortally we act as God's enemies, but when we repent, he forgives. He spent three hours on the cross so we might spend eternity with him. We can still reject him, and then we have only ourselves to blame.
The punishment fits
The agonizing death of the Son of God shows how severe an offense sin is against God's infinite goodness. The punishment does fit the crime.