I started reading the Gospels when I was twenty. I'm fifty-two now, and all these years I've been trying to figure out who Jesus was: what he really did do, what he really did say. The publication of Red Letter Mark is a major event in the quest for the historical Jesus.

Five years ago, I decided to make a movie about Jesus. But not just any movie. I determined to base my script on the words and deeds of Jesus that scholars accept as "authentic." It is superfluous to make another movie about Jesus that dwells in the realms of mythology, fairy tale, and legend. This is the reason I engaged the Jesus Seminar as my consultant.

For everyone who is more interested in what's true than in what we wish to be true, Red Letter Mark is an eye-opener.