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What if the Law of Moses comes neither from the perfect Father nor from the devil?
In Ptolemy's Letter to Flora, a Valentinian teacher addresses a believer with a difficult question: where does the Law come from, and should Christians still keep it? Ptolemy rejects two opposing answers and turns to the words of Jesus to build a different case.
His argument separates commands attributed to God, Moses, and the elders, then examines distinct kinds within divine law itself. For Ptolemy, these differences point toward a just creator between the perfect Father and the adversary. The letter brings questions about scripture, goodness, and authority into a careful exchange between teacher and reader.
What you’ll discover
- A question for Flora Enter a courteous letter that treats confusion about sacred law as a question worth examining.
- Three sources of law Follow Ptolemy as he distinguishes commands attributed to God, Moses, and the elders.
- Jesus as the test See how Ptolemy uses the words of Jesus to assess competing claims about scripture.
- Justice between two extremes Explore his account of a lawgiver who is neither perfectly good nor wholly evil.
- A Valentinian way of reading Encounter an early Christian approach that links moral commands with questions about the Creator.
Who will love it
For readers who love early Christian history, Gnostic and Valentinian thought, and the arguments of the first Christians about the Old Testament.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A teacher writes to a woman
- Two common answers are both mistaken
- The words of Jesus are the test
- Three sources within the Law
- The Law of God has three kinds of command
- The just God between Father and adversary
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Ptolemy's Letter to Flora
by Attributed to Ptolemy the Gnostic · 160
Ptolemy guides Flora through the Law of Moses to ask where it comes from and what Christians should keep.
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In short
This is a letter written in Greek around the middle of the second century, usually dated to about 160 by scholars. Its author is Ptolemy, a teacher in the school of Valentinus, one of the best-known Christian thinkers of Rome and Alexandria in that age.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A teacher writes to a woman
The letter is addressed to my sister Flora, and its opening is courteous and careful. Ptolemy says that the Law given through Moses has not been understood by many people. They do not know who gave it, or what its commands are for. He says the quarrels over it are plain to see, and he wants to help Flora see her way through them.
We know Ptolemy mainly from this letter and from the bishop Irenaeus, who attacked Valentinian teaching in the later second century. Irenaeus names Ptolemy as a leading follower of Valentinus. Some scholars think this is the same Ptolemy who is also named in Roman records of martyrs, but that link is uncertain. What matters here is that the letter is written in a calm teaching voice, not a harsh one.
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What is Ptolemy's Letter to Flora about?
It answers the question of who gave the Law of Moses. Ptolemy argues it came neither from the perfect Father nor from the devil, but from a just maker, and he divides the Law into parts.
Who was Ptolemy and who was Flora?
Ptolemy was a teacher of the Valentinian school of Christianity in the second century. Flora was the woman he wrote to, apparently a believing student. Nothing else is firmly known about her.
Where does the Letter to Flora survive?
It survives in Greek because Epiphanius of Salamis quoted it in full in his fourth century work, the Panarion, where he argues against Valentinian teaching. No other copy is known.
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