Three books, (In His Image, Birth of an Age, and Acts of God) written by James BeauSeigneur, which detail the Eschaton as foretold in the book of Revelation. It is set apart from others of its genre by two main details.
- It is written primarily for a secular audience, which means there is no bible-thumping or preaching. There are, of course, religious overtones in the book, but that is unavoidable given the subject matter. But the purpose of the book is to be a good story, not to proselytize.
- There is a real catalyst which sets the events foretold in The Bible in motion. That is to say, the end of the world just doesn't begin while nobody is looking. There is a specific event which causes and heralds the end of the world. That event is, obviously, the cloning of Jesus Christ. (Just like they did with the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park).
BeauSeigneur is a former intelligence analyst for the NSA and newspaper publisher. He has written manuals on strategic defense and military avionics. With that information, you can correctly assume that the content in the trilogy - which explores areas like astronomy, New Age mythology, medicine, Judeo-Christian religions, world history, geography and sociological psychology - is meticulously researched, which makes the events in the books realistic and very plausible. (Unfortunatly, he has also written speeches for U.S. House and Senate candidates, so he is not inexperienced in writing total bullshit.)
As you would guess from the title of the story, one of the main characters in the trilogy is the clone of Jesus Christ. Living dermal cells found on the Shroud of Turin, which as it turns out are the only remains of Jesus Christ left on earth, are used to clone Jesus, and the resultant embryo is implanted into a host and brought to term. The dermal cells were still alive given the nature of Jesus's resurrected body. Christopher Goodman (the letters of that name, incidentally, add up to 666 in the Hebrew alphabet) is born and grows
up in a world torn by war, famine and political intrigue.
All of the Judgements laid out in the bible turn out to be the result of natural and plausible phenomenon. The first several judgements are brought about by three asteroids on a collision course with earth. The first one, called 2021 KD (a.k.a Calvin), is a near miss, which streaks through our atmosphere causing
sweeping meteorological devistation. The second one, called 2021 KE (a.k.a. Hobbes), strikes in the Pacific Ocean causing oceanographical and volcanic havoc. Last but not least, 2021 KF (a.k.a. Mrs. Wormwood) - the only one scientists thought would hit the earth - is destroyed in space by nuclear weapons. However, the dust that drifts to earth contains high amounts of arsenic which causes world-wide sickness and death.
All of this is blamed by Christopher on a being called Yahweh (God), who as it turns out (according to the Antichrist and the False Prophet) is not actually a diety, but rather an alien from a race of beings called Theatans. Lucifer Morningstar was also a Theatan, and he came here to protect mankind from Yahweh's tyranny. Yahweh has been making him out to be an eeeevil being ever since. (In the book that sounds less like cheesy science fiction and more like a sound scientific theory). The people of earth rally behind Christopher and prepare to wage war on Yahweh and his minions. (Perhaps you're familiar with the term Armageddon).
Christopher claims that he is the Jewish Messiah, the Second Coming of Christ, The Thirteenth Immam, the Fifth Buddha, the (New Age Messiah Figure) Bringer of the Most Great Peace, the Krishnamurti, and a few of other titles from religions whose prophesies foretell of a Chosen One.
I'm not going to give away any more of the story, but I will say that if you are a Christian, you will think that BeauSeigneur is an evil man by the end of the second book. I would suggest that you hang in there, because the payoff at the end of the story is incredible.