Gnosticism

From Srafopedia

Gnosticism is a religious Christian "heretical" movement based on the idea that human souls are trapped in the material world created by the false god known as demiurge. The name comes from the Greek word gnosis which means knowledge. Gnosticism comprises many different belief systems in many of which the Abrahamic God is considered to be the demiurge. Many of gnostic teachings involve the idea of a distant supreme being other than the demiurge and that being is considered to be the incarnation of good. Some gnostic text also have a different perspective on the Fall of Man teaching that it was an awakening and realisation of wisdom instead of the Original Sin.

Gnosticism in His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials has some gnostic ideas in it and most likely Gnosticism was one of Philip Pullman's influences. The idea that the Authority, the God of the Bible, is actually a false god is very similar to the gnostic notion of the demiurge. Pullman's reinterpretation of the Fall also appears to have been influenced by gnostic ideas. In His Dark Materials the Fall is the gaining of knowledge and wisdom which is near the gnostic interpretation.