CLONING CHRIST

In this useful parable for our times of violent religious fervor, a geneticist and amateur archaeologist discovers a two-thousand-year-old cross and remains that stir up so much furor that people are killed in the fight to possess them. But the threat of being able to clone another Jesus is really the back story; the bigger issue is how to reconcile Christianity's respect for fetal life with science's new ability to create new life forms from stem cells and cloning. With a reading that smoothes out the long sentences and makes every word count, and a nice attempt at musical enhancement, the audio is entertaining and thought- provoking. T.W. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 04]