The holy Evangelist Luke was born in Antioch of Syria and from his youth studied the wisdom of the Greeks and the science of medicine. He became a skilled physician and an excellent iconographer, and he knew both the Greek and the Egyptian tongues well. Moreover, he was thoroughly acquainted with the Law of the Jews and had visited Jerusalem.

The Third Way is indeed strange and difficult to explain, whilst, to those who are not aware of it, it is often incomprehensible, appearing unreal and impossible that any such thing can happen. This is because these days the Third Way is not found in many, but rather in very few. As I understand, this virtue abandoned by us together with obedience, since it is the obedience one shows to his spiritual father which makes one truly free, leaving all the cares to him and staying away from the struggles of this world, whilst being a diligent artisan of this third way.

We also understand salvation to be synergistic--it requires participation by God and man. This is not a just a fifty-fifty proposition but requires one hundred percent from God and one hundred percent from man. God plays the primary part by making it possible for man to be saved through His work of redemption and by His unending love and mercy. And God continually seeks man's salvation, awaiting his return like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal son. But man has an essential part as well, the part of cooperation and incorporation, since God has given free will to His creatures. God does not predestine anyone (Protestant theology) to salvation or condemnation; rather, He "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy 2:4).