can any religion gurus help me?

[MarkSummers]

Warning. shameless plea for help on my assignment.

I'm in a messianic studies class and I'm supposed to show how old ideas influence new ideas. In this specific example, I'm supposed to show the influence of Gnostic ideology on the ideas Marshall Applewhite, the leader of the Heaven's Gate cult in the 20th century.


I sort of understand Gnosticism but I don't really see how it applies to the Heaven's Gate cult. Anyway, I'm not looking for a dissertation, just a simple explanation would be fine.