The main character and purported author is Melchizedek, who was the king of Salem and priest of El Elyon (the "most high God") in the Hebrew Bible.
The text identifies Melchizedek with Jesus Christ; whether this was as a precursor or earlier equivalent, or as exactly the same entity, is disputed by scholars.
[3] The text also includes some anti-docetic passages that advocate for a Christology wherein the Incarnation of Jesus was a flesh-and-blood human who was born, ate and drank, suffered, and died.
Another possibility is that the text was written comparatively late in the time period, when Gnosticism was on the wane and was being influenced by the views that would eventually become orthodoxy.
In this case, the text would stand as an example of a work of a writer influenced by both classic Gnosticism as well as orthodoxy, and had merged views from both.