In important ways, the biblical understanding of justice and judgment contrasts sharply with the manner in which these concepts are understood in English. In biblical thought, to judge or do justice is an expression of love and compassion, since it involves acting to deliver those who are suffering from their plight and put an end to any form of oppression so that all may enjoy wholeness and well-being. While at times this requires taking action against those who are oppressing others and doing them harm, the objective is not to inflict punishment on them for its own sake but to prevent them from continuing to fill the lives of others with pain and suffering. Such an understanding of justice stands in opposition to the conception of justice found in the pagan worldviews of antiquity, where it was claimed that anything that threatened the order established by the gods and the rulers they had placed in power was unjust and therefore had to be punished or suppressed, supposedly for the good of all.