exchristian

The conception and imagery we have of the "fire and brimstone" hell where sinners go to be fried, hang upside down in chains while red devils poke them with pitchforks, or demons torture them with ironic punishments based on their actions in life, etc. are all directly inspired by Dante's Inferno. And what people think they know about "the devil" is largely just from Milton's Paradise Lost. All of it is completely extrabiblical. Not supported by the source material.

In other words, a modern fabrication.

That doesn't stop contemporary Evangelicals, most Catholics, and other assorted wingnuts from wholeheartedly believing all of it, though.