This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Jade Eyed 1: It feels like it should be obvious, but...where (and how) is Gnosticism represented in Doctor Who? Is it the "Order versus Chaos" concept from the classic Who episodes?
Sneeb: How does Full Metal Alchemist employ Gnostic themes? Aside from the brothers coming to learn more about how the world works and the true nature of the philosopher's stone there's nothing quite as reflective as the nature of Gnosis as, say, Lain's realization as to her true nature or Neo discovering what The Matrix really is.
Dammerung: Gnosticism is a cosmology as much as - probably more - than it is a religion. FMA has parallel worlds, which probably implies a multiverse. It's got anthropic personifications of emotional states, like Lust and Greed. It's got corrupt supernatural beings manipulating people through propaganda and war.
The trouble with Gnosticism as a category is it is inherently in relation to a mystery. You can't describe or explain the mystery, it's mysterious! From the right angle, everything is related to the central mystery of Gnosticism. Hence the quote at the top of the page. At least, this is my view.
Drone5: This page leans heavily on the Gnostic gospels, but there's no mention of how—in spite of the great anti-Gnostic purge, in the wake of campaigns by Irenaeus (and others)
to brand Gnostics as heretics—nevertheless, at least a bit of Gnosticism survived in the canonical Gospels. Specifically Luke 17:21 in which "the Kingdom of God is within you," a central tenet of Gnosticism, is spoken by the Son of Man Himself. Which (much) later Tolstoy drew upon to title his work of Christian Anarchism.
Drone5:In The Mouth Of Madness is listed under Tropes. That's a Work, not a Trope.
