The great French historian Jacques Le Goff credited Dante with doing more than any theologian to make purgatory a meaningful part of Christian tradition, and, more recently, Jon M. Sweeney has argued that Dante practically invented the modern idea of hell. (firstthings.com)
If you find the above statement silly and absurb, you now know how I feel about the whole idea of hell! (religion.blogs.cnn.com)